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BX  8955  .A32  1895  copy  1 

Addresses  delivered  at  the 
quarter-century  anniversar 


^vi^fif  w^ 


JUL  21  1922      *■ 

ADDRESSES,,——  ..v/ 


,/  f.     "—  "\ 


DELIVERED  AT  THE 


Quarter-Qentury/^nniversary 


OF   THE 


REUNION 


Old  and  New  School  Presbyterian 
Churches 

Held  in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
May  23,  1895 


WITH  A  PREFACE  AND   OTHER   INTRODUCTORY  MATTER 


Published  by  Order  of  the  General  Assei 


Philadelphia 

Presbytekian  Board  of  Publication 

AND  Sabbath-school  Work 

1895 


Copyright,   1895,  by 
THE  TRUSTEES   OF   THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BOARD 
OF  PUBLICATION   AND   SABBATH- 
SCHOOL  WORK. 


Contents, 


Preface 

Basis  of  Reunion,  1869 

The  Reunion  Convention,  1869         .... 

Action  of  the  General  Assembly,  1895     . 

The  Fundamental  Doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
by  the  Rev.  Francis  Landey  Patton,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
President  of  Princeton  University 

The  Influence  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  upon  other 
Churches,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Matthias  Booth,  D.D 
LL.D.,  President  of  Auburn  Theological  Seminary 


rAGB 

5 

9 

II 

17 


33 


The  Growth  and  Future  of  the  Reunited  Church,  by  the 
Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Stated 
Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  .        ,        63 


Preface 


The  Quarter  Century  Anniversary  of  the 
Reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Presby- 
terian Churches  was  celebrated  by  order  of 
the  General  Assembly,  in  the  Third  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  Thursday,  May 
23,  1895,  at  7.45  P.M.  An  Anniversary  serv- 
ice was  also  held  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  at  the  same  time.  The  arrangements 
for  these  services  were  made  by  the  Commit- 
tee of  Arrangements  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  1895,  the  Rev.  William  L.  McEwan, 
D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  Third  Presbyterian 
Church,    Chairman. 

All  the  living  ex-Moderators  were  invited 
to  these  services,  of  whom  the  following  were 
present: 

5 


6  PREFACE. 

Rev.  Henry  A.  Nelson,  D.D.,   1867; 
Rev.  Francis  L.  Patton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1878; 
Rev.  Henry  H.  Jessup,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1879; 
Rev.  William  M.  Paxton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1880; 
Rev.  E.  R.  Craven,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1885; 
Rev.  Joseph  T.  Smith,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1887; 
Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,   D.D.,  1888; 
Rev.  William  C.  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1889  ; 
Rev.  William  E.  Moore,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1890; 
Rev.  Willis  G.  Craig,  D.D.,  LL.D.,   1893; 
Rev.  S.  A.  Mutchmore,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  1894. 

The  presiding  officer  at  the  Third  Church, 
in  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  John  C.  Lowrie, 
D.D.,  of  New  York  City,  the  senior  living 
Moderator,  was  the  Moderator  of  the  sitting 
Assembly,  the  Rev.  Robert  Russell  Booth, 
D.D.,  LL.D.  The  presiding  officer  at  the 
First  Church  was  the  Rev.  William  M.  Pax- 
ton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  Moderator  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1880.  At  the  Third  Church 
prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 
A.  Nelson,  the  Scripture  lesson  was  read  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  R.  Craven,  and  the  speak- 
ers were  introduced  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  A. 
Mutchmore.  At  the  First  Church  the  Scrip- 
ture lesson  was  read  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  T. 


PREFACE.  7 

Smith,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  and    prayer  was  offered 
by  the  Rev.  David  R.  Breed,  D.D. 

The  speakers  were  the  Rev.  Drs.  Francis 
L.  Patton,  Henry  M.  Booth,  and  William 
Henry  Roberts,  and  their  Addresses  were 
delivered  at  both  churches.  To  give  to  these 
Addresses  permanent  form,  the  General  As- 
sembly ordered  that  they  should  be  published 
by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and 
S.  S.  Work.  This  volume  is  the  result  of 
that  direction,  and  for  purposes  of  Informa- 
tion, the  Basis  of  Reunion  and  the  Minutes 
of  the  Reunion  Convention  of  1869,  have  been 
included  as  introductory  to  the  Addresses. 

w,  H.  R. 


The  Basis  of  the  Reunion  of  the  Old  and 

New  School  Presbyterian  Churches, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  November  12,  1869. 


1.  The  Presbyterian  Churches  in  the  Unit- 
ed States  of  America,  namely,  that  whose 
General  Assembly  convened  in  the  Brick 
Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  20th 
dav  of  May,  1869,  and  that  whose  General 
Assembly  met  in  the  Church  of  the  Cove- 
nant in  the  said  city,  on  the  same  day,  shall 
be  reunited  as  one  Church,  under  the  name 
and  style  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  possessing  all  the 
legal  and  corporate  rights  and  powers  per- 
taining to  the  Church  previous  to  the  divi- 
sion in  1838,  and  all  the  legal  and  corpor- 
ate rights  and  powers  which  the  separate 
Churches  now  possess. 

2.  The  Union  shall  be  effected  on  the  doc- 
trinal and  ecclesiastical  basis  of  our  common 
Standards;    the   Scriptures    of    the    Old    and 


10  THE  BASIS  OF  THE  REUNION. 

New  Testaments  shall  be  acknowledged  to  be 
the  Inspired  Word  of  God,  and  the  only  in- 
fallible rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  shall  continue  to  be  sincerely 
received  and  adopted  as  containing  the  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures; and  the  Government  and  Discipline  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States, 
shall  be  approved  as  containing  the  princi- 
ples and  rules  of  our  polity.  \_MinuteSy  Gen. 
Assembly,   O.  S.  and  N.  S.,  1869.] 


The  Reunion  Convention. 


The  two  General  Assemblies  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  meeting  respectively  in  the 
First  and  Third  Churches  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
having  both  been  in  due  form  dissolved  on 
Friday,  November  12,  1869,  at  10  o'clock 
A.M.,  a  Joint  Convention,  in  accordance  with 
previous  mutual  agreement,  was  held  imme- 
diately after  in  the  Third  Church. 

The  members  of  the  late  N.  S.  Assembly, 
preceded  by  their  Moderator,  Clerks,  and 
Reunion  Committee,  formed  in  order,  two  by 
two,  and  proceeded  from  the  Third  Church 
down  Sixth  avenue  to  Wood  street,  and  took 
position  on  the  west  side  of  the  street,  oppo- 
site the  First  Church.  At  the  same  time,  the 
members  of  the  late  O.  S.  Assembly,  pre- 
ceded in  like  manner  by  their  Moderator, 
Clerks,  and  Reunion  Committee,  came  forth 
from  the  First  Church  and  took  position  on 
the   east   side  of  the  street,    directly  opposite 


12  THE  REUNION  CONVENTION. 

the  other  column,  the  head  of  each  line  look- 
ing south  towards  Fifth  avenue. 

The  following  gentlemen  had  been  ap- 
pointed and  consented  to  serve  as  marshals 
of  the  day:  Gen.  J.  K.  Morehead  and  Messrs. 
John  D.  McCord,  William  Rea,  and  George 
H.  Stuart. 

The  signal  for  the  march  having  been 
given,  the  two  Moderators  met  in  the  middle 
of  the  street,  shook  hands,  and  joined  arms; 
as  was  done  also  by  the  Stated  Clerks,  the 
Permanent  and  Temporary  Clerks,  the  two 
Reunion  Committees,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  two  columns — the  joint  procession  mean- 
while marching  forward,  two  by  two.  Old  and 
New  School  interlocked  along  the  whole  line, 
down  Wood  street  and  up  Fifth  avenue, 
Smithheld  street  and  Sixth  avenue  (the  whole 
distance  attended  by  a  rejoicing  crowd  of 
people)  to  the  Third  Church. 

As  the  procession  entered  by  the  right 
middle  aisle,  Wesley's  noble  hymn, 

"Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow,"  etc. 

was  sung  by  the  choir  and  the  ladies  who 
had  been  previously  admitted  to  seats  as- 
signed them.     The   greater  part   of  the    pro- 


THE  REUNION  CONVENTIOtJ.  13 

cession  found  seats  on  the  immense  platform 
occupying  the  southern  end  of  the  great 
church,  the  remainder  occupying  the  pews  in 
front  of  the  platform  ;  after  which  the  doors 
were  opened,  and  the  house  was  immediately 
thronged  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

The  services  commenced  at  1 1  o'clock  a.m., 
and  were  continued  with  unwearied  interest 
for  more  than  three  hours.  Addresses  were 
made  by  the  Moderators  and  others,  both 
ministers  and  elders,  previously  designated, 
intermingled  with  prayer  and  songs  of  de- 
vout praise  and  thanksgiving. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions, 
reported  in  behalf  of  the  Committee  of  Ar- 
rangements, by  the  Rev.  S.  W.  Fisher,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  were  passed  unanimously: 

Preamble  and   Resolutions  Adopted   in  Joint   Con- 
vention  BY  the   Members  of  the  Two  As- 
semblies,   November    12,    1869. 

In  the  Providence  of  God,  the  two  Branches 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  after  a  separation  of 
more  than  thirty  years,  are  again  united. 
This  event,  In  its  magnitude,  is  unparalleled 
in    the   ecclesiastical    history   of    this   country 


14  THE  REUNION  CONVENTION. 

and  almost  of  the  world.  It  evidences  to  all 
men  the  presence  and  unifying  power  of  the 
Divine  Spirit.  A  fact  so  remarkable  and 
significant  attracts  interest  and  creates  expec- 
tation among  even  worldly  minds.  It  awak- 
ens the  sympathies  and  the  hopes  of  all  who 
truly  love  Christ  among  other  denominations. 
It  awakens  hope,  since  it  illustrates  the  evi- 
dent purpose  of  God  to  bring  all  his  follow- 
ers Into  closer  union  in  spirit,  combine  them 
In  action  for  the  overthrow  of  error  and  the 
diffusion  of  his  truth ;  it  awakens  expectation, 
since  they  justly  anticipate,  on  our  part,  from 
this  union  of  resources,  spirit,  and  action,  a 
far  more  vigorous  assault  upon  the  forces  of 
darkness  and  more  decided  efforts  to  spread 
the  Gospel  among  all  classes  in  our  own 
and  other  lands. 

To  us,  as  a  Church,  it  is  an  era  in  our 
history  most  memorable  and  hopeful;  memor- 
able, as  it  signalizes  the  triumph  of  faith  and 
love  over  the  strifes  and  jealousies  of  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century;  hopeful,  since  it 
is  not  the  result  of  decadence  and  torpor, 
but  of  progress  and  augmented  strength.  It 
buries  the  suspicions  and  the  rivalries  of  the 
past,   with    the    sad    necessity    of    magnifying 


THE  REUNION  CONVENTION.  15 

our  differences  in  order  to  justify  our  separa- 
tion. It  banishes  the  spirit  of  division,  the 
natural  foe  of  true  progress.  In  this  union 
is  seen  the  outflashing  of  a  divine  purpose 
to  lead  us  on  to  greater  self-sacrifice  and  a 
more  entire  consecration  to  the  evangelization 
of  the  world.  God  has  elevated  us  to  this 
commanding  position,  that  we  may  see  his 
glory,  and  in  the  strengthened  faith  it  in- 
spires devote  our  united  resources  more 
directly  and  efficiently  to  the  salvation  of 
men.  New  and  grander  responsibilities  rest 
upon  us.  Jesus  summons  us  to  a  holler  faith 
and  more  perfect  consecration.  He  summons 
this  Church  to  answer  his  loving-kindness  by 
deeds  commensurate  with  our  renewed  re- 
sources. The  times  are  auspicious ;  every- 
where peace  reigns ;  the  gates  are  open,  and 
the  millions  of  our  own  and  other  lands  wait 
for  the  Gospel.  Our  position  is  command- 
ing; our  resources  great;  our  methods  of 
action  well  settled,  simple  and  efficient.  The 
Spirit  of  God  that  has  united  us  will  inspire, 
direct,  and  bless  our  efforts.  While  we 
maintain  the  faith  which  Paul  so  fully  un- 
folded, and  our  Church,  in  the  centuries  past, 
has,   through   manifold  persecution   and   mar- 


1 6  THE  REUNION  CONVENTION, 

tyrdom,  so  gloriously  upheld,  we  are  sum- 
moned, as  by  the  will  of  God,  to  arise  and 
build,  to  form  new,  broader,  and  bolder  plans 
for  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  to 
enter  upon  and  execute  them  with  apostolic 
enthusiasm. 

Let  us  then,  the  ministers,  elders,  and 
members  of  this  Church  here  assembled,  as, 
in  spirit,  standing  in  the  presence  of  and 
representing  the  entire  body  of  believers  in 
our  connection,  and  the  beloved  missionaries 
in  foreign  lands  who  now  await,  with  tender 
and  prayerful  interest,  this  consummation  of 
our  union — ^let  us,  in  humble  dependence 
upon  our  dear  Redeemer,  with  deep  humility 
in  view  of  our  past  inefficiency  and  present 
unworthlness,  and  as  an  expression  of  our 
devout  gratitude  to  him  who  has  brought  this 
once  dissevered,  now  united  Church  up  to 
this  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  signalize  this 
most  blessed  and  joyous  union  with  an  offer- 
ing in  some  degree  commensurate  with  the 
abundant  pecuniary  gifts  that  he  has  bestowed 
on  us.     And,  to  this  end,  be  it 

Resolved y  That  it  is  incumbent  on  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,   one   in    organization,    one   in    faith, 


ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  iSgs-     1 7 

and  one  in  effort,  to  make  a  special  offering, 
to  the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  of  Jive  7nillions 
of  dollars:  and  we  pledge  ourselves,  first  of 
all,  to  seek  in  our  daily  petitions  the  blessing 
of  God  to  make  this  resolution  effectual;  and 
second,  that  we  will,  with  untiring  persever- 
ance and  personal  effort,  endeavor  to  animate 
the  whole  Church  with  the  purpose  to  secure 
the  accomplishment  of  this  great  work  before 
the  third  Thursday  of  May,  1871. 

34.  Resolved,  furtJm^  That  the  Stated 
Clerks  of  the  Assembly  of  1869  be  request- 
ed to  publish  this  paper,  with  the  names  of 
the  Moderators,  Clerks,  and  Joint  Committee 
on  Reunion,  and  the  Commissioners  now  in 
attendance,  appended  thereto. 

At  3.30  o'clock  P.M.,  the  Convention  united 
in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  at 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  which  also 
was  thronged  in  every  part.  ^^Miimles,  Gen. 
Assembly,  O.  S.  and  N.  S.,   1869.] 


Action    of   the    General   Assembly   of    1S95. 

Resolved,    i.  That  we  request    of   Rev.    W. 
H.  Roberts,  D.D.,    a    copy   of  his    admirable 


l8     ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBL  Y  OF  i8gs. 

address  on  the  ''Growth  of  Presbyterianism 
During  the  Past  Twenty-five  Years,"  for  pub- 
lication. That  the  same  be  issued  as  a  sup- 
plement of  the  Assembly  Herald  for  general 
distribution   throucrhout  our  entire   Church. 

Resolved,  2.  That  we  heartily  endorse  the 
suofeestion  made  in  the  address,  that  an  im- 
mediate  effort  be  made  to  raise  one  milHon 
dollars  as  an   Anniversary  Reunion  Fund. 

Resolved,  3.  That  as  our  Church  has  con- 
tributed during  these  twenty-five  years  forty- 
seven  millions  of  dollars  to  the  missionary 
work  of  our  Church,  and  at  the  present  time 
there  remains  an  indebtedness  on  this  work 
of  about  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  that 
the  first  contributions  that  are  made  to  this 
fund  shall  go  to  Uquidate  this  debt,  and  shall 
be  divided  pro  rata  among  the  Boards  of  our 
Church  accordino^  to  their  indebtedness.  And 
that  whatever  sum  is  raised  over  and  above 
this  debt  shall  be  divided  among  the  various 
Boards  according  to  the  established  system 
of  apportionment. 

Resolved,  4.  That  a  Committee  consisting 
of  eighteen  ministers  and  twelve  elders  shall 
be  appointed  by  the  Moderator  to  carry  out 
the  provisions  of  the  above  resolution. 


ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  iSgs-   ^9 

Resolved,  5.  That  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Roberts, 
D.D.,  be  requested  to  act  as  Treasurer  of 
the  Fund,  and  be  authorized  to  employ  such 
clerical  help  as  may  most  efficiendy  accom- 
plish the  desired  purpose.  And  that  any 
expenses,  either  of  the  Committee  or  of  Dr. 
Roberts,  shall  be  borne  by  the  Fund.  {Min- 
utes,  1895,  p.  97-] 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Publication 
and  Sabbath-school  Work  be  directed  and 
authorized  to  publish  in  volume  form  the  ad- 
dresses delivered  on  the  Twenty-fifth  Anni- 
versary of  Reunion.     {Minutes,  1895,  p.  133.] 


The 

Fundamental  Doctrines  of  the 

Presbyterian  Church 


BY   THE 


Rev.  FRANCIS  LANDEY  PATTON,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

President  of  Princeton  University 


The  Fundamental  Doctrines  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church. 


Moderator,  Fellow- Aloderators  of  past  Assem- 
blies, Fathers  and  BretJireu  constitiitiiio-  this 
General  Assembly,  and  Christian  Friends  : 

I  am  asked  to  speak  to-night  on  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
We  are  a  doctrinal  Church.  The  division 
between  the  Old  and  the  New  School  was  a 
division  based  largely  upon  doctrinal  differ- 
ences. The  Reunion  of  the  Old  and  New 
Schools  was  a  reunion  effected  upon  a  doc- 
trinal basis. 

Some  of  us,  perhaps,  took  part  in  the  dis- 
cussion that  ended  in  the  Reunion.  Many 
of  us  remember  the  discussion,  the  efforts* 
that  were  made  to  secure  some  sort  of 
agreement  which  would  make  a  Reunion  safe. 
Some  of  us  remember  the  Smith-Gurley  reso- 
lution, to  the  effect  that  certain  modes  of 
viewing,     stating     and     explaining     doctrines 


24  A NNI VERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES. 

should  be  freely  allowed  in  the  united  Church, 
as  they  had  been  freely  allowed  in  the  sep- 
arate Churches.  It  seemed  fair,  but  it  never- 
theless failed  to  satisfy  the  negotiating  par- 
ties ;  and  at  last  the  Churches  came  together 
on  the  basis  of  the  Standards  pure  and  sim- 
ple. There  was  no  stipulation  ;  there  was  no 
contract;  but  there  was  an  understanding, 
and  where  an  understanding  exists,  creating 
in  the  minds  of  either  party  a  legitimate 
expectation,  there  is  a  moral  obligation. 

I  believe  in  theology,  but  I  believe  even 
more  in  moral  obligation.  We  came  to- 
gether, I  say,  on  the  basis  of  the  Standards 
pure  and  simple,  and  we  have  stood  together 
ever  since ;  and  we  mean  to  stay  together  on 
this  simple  basis  of  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  the  Larger  and  Shorter 
Catechisms. 

There  has  never  come  to  the  bar  of  this 
Assembly,  to  my  knowledge  ( and  I  think  I 
know  something  about  the  cases  that  have 
occurred  in  these  twenty-five  years),  there 
has  never  come  to  the  bar  of  this  Assembly, 
and  so  far  as  I  know  there  has  never  come 
to  the  bar  of  any  Presbytery  in  the  land, 
any  case  Involving  the   differences   which  ex- 


A  NNI VE  RSARY  ADDR  ESSES.  2  5 

isted  between  the  Old  and  the  New  School ; 
and  if  a  case  should  ever  come  in  the  course 
of  appellate  process  to  the  notice  of  the 
General  Assembly,  I  know  what  the  result 
will  be. 

If  any  minister  who  formerly  belonged  to 
the  Old  School  and  holds  Old  School  ideas 
should  ever  be  brought  to  book  for  his 
supralapsarianism  or  his  belief  in  premil- 
lenialism,  I  can  safely  say  for  you,  Mr.  Mod- 
erator, that  you  will  see  that  the  Assembly 
goes  right  upon  the  case.  And,  if  any  New 
School  man,  holding  New  School  ideas, 
should  ever  be  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
General  Assembly,  on  the  question  of  the 
distinction  between  moral  and  natural  ina- 
bility, or  on  the  subject  of  a  general  as  dis- 
tinguished from  a  limited  atonement,  I  hope 
that  I  may  have  the  privilege  of  being  a 
member  of  that  Assembly,  that  I  may  vote 
for  his  acquittal.  These  differences  have  ex- 
isted all  along ;  they  exist  now.  Princeton 
is  alive  ;  Union  Is  alive  ;  Auburn  and  Lane 
are  here  ;  and  these  differences  will  continue. 

Seeing,  then,  that  differences  of  opinions 
on  minor  matters  existed  In  our  Church,  the 
question    very    naturally    arose    whether    we 


26  A  VA  V  VERSARY  A  DDR  ESSES. 

might  not  revise  the  Confession  so  that  it 
might  be  made  more  comprehensive.  Men 
wondered  whether  we  could  not  frame  our 
confessional  statements  so  that  they  would 
include  all  these  differences.  Some  thought 
it  was  not  a  wise  or  a  necessary  thing  to 
do,  but  the  majority  thought  it  was  best  at 
least  to  try.  We  did  our  best,  and  we  pre- 
sented the  results  to  the  General  Assembly. 
You  know  what  became  of  our  report.  The 
Church  was  not  satisfied  with  our  v/ork. 
The  simple  fact  was  that  there  were  just 
three  courses  open.  We  had  either  to  cut 
the  Confession  down  to  a  minimum  and 
make  it  very  small,  or  else  we  had  to  write 
it  Lip  to  date  and  make  it  very  large,  or 
else  we  had  to  let  it  stand  as  it  was  ;  and  I 
take  it  that  the  last  was  the  best  disposition 
to  make  of  the  matter.  So  it  comes  to  pass 
that  after  twenty-five  years  of  reunited  his- 
tory, we  find  the  same  condition  of  things 
that  existed  at  the  beginning.  There  is  the 
living,  thinking  Church  on  the  one  hand,  and 
here  is  the  fixed  creed  on  the  other. 

The  real  attitude  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  the  attitude  of  a  Church  that 
holds     creneric     Calvinism,    as      distinguished 


A  NNI  VERSA  R  V  A  DDR  ESSES.  2/ 

from  specific  Calvinism.  I  think  this  generic 
Calvinism  is  enough  to  include  not  only  our 
Church,  but  other  Presbyterian  Churches. 
They  talk  about  a  Greater  New  York  and  a 
Greater  Pittsburgh,  I  think  we  can  talk 
about  a  Greater  Presbyterianism.  The  time 
for  these  other  unions,  I  take  it,  is  not  yet, 
but  the  basis  of  these  unions,  when  the 
time  comes,  is  none  other  than  the  West- 
minster Standards,  pure  and    simple. 

Sometimes  we  are  told  that  we  are  orean- 
ized  theologically  to  perpetuate  and  keep 
alive  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  There  is  a  certain  sense  in 
which  that  is  true,  and  yet  that  is  not  a  fair 
way  to  state  it.  The  best  statement,  we  be- 
lieve, of  evangelical  religion,  is  the  Calvin- 
istic  statement,  but  for  Calvinism  without  the 
evangelistic  elements  that  it  holds  in  com- 
mon with  the  creeds  of  other  Churches,  we 
should  not  have  much  zeal.  I  am  free  to 
say  that  it  is  pretty  small  business  for  a 
great  Church  like  ours  to  engage  in,  if  she 
has  no  other  function,  if  she  can  render  no 
greater  service,  than  that  of  keeping  alive  an 
interest  in  the  five  points  of  Calvinism. 

The    reason    why    we   are  organized    theo- 


28  A  NNI VER  SA  R  Y  A  DDR  ESSES. 

logically  and  on  the  basis  of  a  long  creed, 
is  because  it  is  the  belief  of  this  Church  that 
our  ministers  should  hold  and  should  present 
to  the  people  a  complete  statement  of  the 
great  plan  of  salvation.  It  so  happens  that 
when  we  do  make  a  complete  statement,  we 
find  that  we  differ  from  our  Arminian  friends, 
who  are  trying  to  do  the  same  thing  in  re- 
spect to  their  doctrines,  and  from  our  Luthe- 
ran friends,  who  are  trying  to  do  the  same 
in  respect  to  their  doctrines,  and  from  our 
Episcopalian  friends,  who  are  trying  to  do 
the  same  thing  in  respect  to  their  doctrines. 
We  sometimes  insist  so  much  on  the  dif- 
ferences that  emerge  when  these  denomina- 
tions formulate  their  creed  statements,  that 
we  overlook  the  laro-e  amount  of  common 
ground  they  occupy.  But  it  is  well  for  us 
to  remember  that  the  doctrines  which  we 
hold  in  common  with  our  Arminian  and 
Lutheran  and  Anglican  friends  are  of  far 
more  importance  than  the  doctrines  in  which 
we  differ ;  we  are,  therefore,  doing  them  a 
service,  as  well  as  ourselves,  when.  In  de- 
fending our  specific  doctrines,  we  also  de- 
fend the  doctrines  that  we  all  hold  In  com- 
mon.    Our    sister    Churches    do    not    accept 


ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES.  29 

our  creed  so  far  as  it  is  Calvinistic,  but  it  is 
a  matter  of  great  moment  to  other  Churches 
what  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  doing  for 
generic  Calvinism,  for  in  doing  service  for 
generic  Calvinism,  she  is  doing  service  for 
the  great  cause  of  evangelical  religion. 

I  believe  that  we  are  peculiarly  fitted  for 
rendering  this  service,  for  our  Church  has 
very  special  interest  in  systematic  theology. 
She  is  fond  of  presenting  the  doctrines  of 
her  system  in  their  relations  to  one  an- 
other, and  in  a  way  that  reveals  their  inter- 
dependence ;  and  this  interdependence  of 
doctrines,  when  it  is  realized,  is  a  very 
strong  argument  in  their  support. 

I  believe  that  this  system  of  doctrine  of 
which  I  am  speaking,  which  is  implied  in  all 
our  preaching,  and  which  pervades  it  all, 
should  be  more  particularly  emphasized.  It 
ought  to  be  preached,  and  not  only  preached 
but  defended.  I  doubt  whether  it  is  preach- 
ed as  much  as  it  should  be.  Now  the  way 
to  preach  doctrine,  I  think,  is  to  preach  it 
in  relation  to  the  discussions  of  the  present 
time.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
Church  will  not  listen  to  doctrinal  preach- 
ing ;    but  doctrinal  preaching,  to    be  interest- 


30  A  NA'I  VERSA  R  Y  A  DDR  ESSES. 

ing,  must  relate  Itself  to  living  issues,  to  the 
books  men  are  reading  and  the  questions 
men  are  discussing  to-day.  I  believe  in  Cal- 
vinism, but  I  have  no  great  respect  for  fos- 
silized Calvinism.  I  believe  in  Aug^ustinian- 
ism,  but  in  an  up-to-date  Augustinianism. 
This  system  of  doctrine  is  not  simply  to  be 
preached  ;  but  v^e  are  bound  to  defend  it. 

The  debate  of  to-day  is  not  a  discussion 
between  Presbyterians  of  this  school  and 
Presbyterians  of  that  school  ;  it  is  not  one 
between  Calvinism  and  Armlnlanism.  You 
see  no  articles  In  the  reviews  that  are  deal- 
ing with  supralapsarianism  or  infralapsarian- 
ism.  Men  do  not  wax  hot  in  controversy 
over  the  distinction  between  mediate  and  im- 
mediate imputation.  One  of  the  Interesting 
features  connected  with  the  present  discus- 
sion is,  that  the  great  debate  is  between 
those  who  believe  In  evangelical  Christianity 
— whether  they  be  Calvlnlsts  or  Armlnlans, 
whether  they  be  Baptists,  Presbyterians  or 
Episcopalians — and  those  who  do  not  believe 
in  it.  I  believe  that  a  large  share  of  this 
debate  falls  upon  us.  It  Is  not  over,  and  it 
will  not  be  over  for  years  to  come.  In  this 
great  debate,  unless  the  Presbyterian  Church 


A  NNI  VERSA  RY  A  DDRESSES.  3 1 

shall  be  untrue  to  her  past,  false  to  just  ex- 
pectations and  unworthy  of  her  equipment, 
our  denomination  must  have  a  great  place, 
and  render  great  service  in  support  of  evan- 
gelical Christianity. 

.  Now,  how  does  it  happen  that  the  necessity 
is  laid  upon  us  of  debating  this  issue  be- 
tween evanorelical  and  non-evanorelical  Chris- 
tianity  ?  It  is  because  there  are  so  many  in 
these  days  who  do  not  believe  that  we  have 
any  objective  norm  of  truth.  Nearly  all  of 
the  current  heresies  involve  this  question. 
Look  at  it  a  moment.  We  are  told  that 
doctrine  is  of  no  importance ;  that  we  can 
afford  to  dispense  with  dogmatic  statements 
or  reduce  them  to  a  very  few  words.  You 
ask  in  reply :  How  can  this  be  ?  Do  we  not 
find  Paul  insisting  upon  doctrine  ?  Are  not 
the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  the  Ephe- 
sians  doctrinal  epistles  ?  But  if  you  had 
come  to  regard  Paul  as  a  philosopher  who 
had  added  his  metaphysical  speculations  to 
the  simple  teachings  of  the  Master,  you 
might  feel  as  others  do,  who  say,  ''  Back  to 
Christ,"  and  who  are  ready  to  resolve  Chris- 
tianity into  a  morality  based  upon  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount. 


32  ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES. 

There  are  men  who  tell  us  that  the  Chris- 
tian consciousness  must  be  reckoned  with 
when  we  are  asking  what  we  are  to  believe. 
But  you  reply,  How  can  that  be  if  the  Bible 
is  our  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ?  If,  how- 
ever, you  come  to  believe,  as  some  have 
come  to  believe,  that  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament  are  the  recorded  experiences  of 
men,  inspired  it  is  true,  but  with  an  inspira- 
tion in  no  way  differing-  in  kind  from  the  in- 
spiration that  the  Church  has  always  had, 
you  may  come  then  to  the  conclusion  above 
stated  in  regard  to  the  Christian  conscious- 
ness. 

Some,  again,  tell  us  that  emphasis  has 
been  laid  too  much  and  too  lonof  on  what 
we  know  as  dogmatic  Christianity,  and  that 
we  must  see  more  than  we  have  hitherto 
seen  the  ethical  side  of  our  relimon.  You 
naturally  think,  that  we  do  not  err  in  laying 
emphasis  on  the  dogmatic  side  of  Christi- 
anity, when  you  think  of  the  way  in  which 
Paul  emphasized  the  fact  that  Christ  is  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins  and  that  we  have 
redemption  tlirough  His  blood.  But  if  you 
should  ever  be  convinced  that  the  Church 
has  altogether  overestimated  the  value  of  the 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES,  33 

Pauline  literature,  it  mig-ht  be  very  easy  for 
you  to  fall  in  with  this  desire  for  an  ethical 
Christianity. 

The  question  of  to-day  is,  therefore,  the 
old  question  concerning  the  sufficiency,  the 
authority  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

I  have  been  asked  to  speak  on  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
It  is  really  very  hard,  as  I  go  over  these 
doctrines — the  Trinity,  the  person  of  Christ, 
sin,  atonement,  the  purpose  of  God,  justifi- 
cation, sanctlficatlon  and  the  future  state — 
to  say  which  are  and  which  are  not  funda- 
mental. They  are  all  fundamental.  Some  of 
them  are  of  the  very  essence  of  Christianity, 
and  being  fundamental  to  Christianity,  are, 
of  course,  fundamental  to  Calvinism.  Some 
of  them,  though  not  of  the  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity, are  nevertheless  fundamental  to  Cal- 
vinism, and  therefore  are  fundamental  in  a 
system  of  theology  that  is  Calvlnlstlc. 

There  is,  however,  one  doctrine  that  stands 
apart  from  all  others,  for  it  is  the  doctrine 
on  which  all  others  depend.  I  refer  to  the 
doctrine  concernlnor  the  Bible.  We  must 
know    what    the   Bible   is   in   order    that   we 


34  ANNIVERSAR  V  A  DDR  ESSES. 

may  know  how  we  are  to  esteem  what  the 
Bible  teaches.  And  the  great  question  of 
our  time  is  simply  this  :   What  is  the  Bible  ? 

There  are  two  ways  of  dealing  with  this 
question :  one  is  the  ecclesiastical  way,  the 
other  is  the  way  of  scholarship.  It  is  the 
prerogative  of  the  court  of  last  resort  to  say 
whether  this  or  that  utterance  does  or  does 
not  contravene  our  confessional  statements 
regarding  Inspiration.  The  Church,  in  her 
judicial  capacity,  however,  cannot  settle  the 
great  debate  upon  this  question,  neither  can 
she  stop  it.  The  debate  is  going  on  and 
will  go  on,  and  it  must  be  in  the  hands  of 
men  who  have  special  aptitude  for  the 
work. 

This  quesdon  that  we  are  called  to  grap- 
ple with  in  this  age,  is  the  greatest  that  has 
ever  come  before  the  Church.  It  is  not  an 
inquiry  as  to  what  the  Bible  says,  but  an 
inquiry  as  to  what  the  Bible  is.  If  the 
books  of  the  Bible  are  simply  the  expres- 
sions of  the  highest  levels  of  thought  that 
men  have  reached  In  religious  matters  by  a 
naturalistic  evolution  of  belief,  they  have  no 
authority.  To  us  it  is  of  no  moment  that 
men    believed    in    Christ's    resurrection   and 


ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES.  35 

had  faith  in  his  atonement,  if,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  he  did  not  rise  and  made  no  atone- 
ment. The  record  of  Christianity,  to  be  of 
value,  must  contain  satisfactory  evidence  of 
the  occurrence  of  certain  great  supernatural 
events.  For  supernatural  Christianity  there 
must  be  satisfactory  evidence.  I  may  say 
that  the  New  Testament  record  of  certain 
supernatural  occurrences  is  true.  But  even 
this  would  give  us  only  a  very  meagre  dog- 
matic faith.  For  if  we  are  to  accept  Paul's 
commentary  on  the  death  of  Christ  and 
Paul's  exposition  of  Christ's  atonement,  we 
must  feel  assured  that  he  Is  not  simply  ex- 
pressing his  private  opinions.  We  must  be 
certain  that  his  utterances  are  authoritative 
utterances ;  that  we  have  in  them  not  only 
the  record  of  supernatural  events,  but  a 
supernatural  record  of  those  events.  We 
need  for  the  support  of  what  we  call  evan- 
gelical Christianity  an  inspired  Bible.  I  will 
not  insist  upon  the  word  *'  Inerrancy."  It 
Is  enough  when  we  are  assured  that  the 
Bible  is  the  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice, and  that  It  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God. 

This   question    cannot    be   adequately   han- 


36  ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES. 

died  by  quoting  proof  texts  out  of  the  Bible 
to  prove  its  inspiration.  It  involves  a  great 
deal  more  than  some  persons  suppose.  Men 
are  handling  a  very  large  topic  when  under 
the  conditions  of  modern  thought  they  ask, 
What  is  the  Bible  ?  What  does  it  mean  ? 
How  did  this  great  literature  step  into  the 
place  it  holds,  and  by  what  right  does  it 
claim  to  rule  the  hearts  and  consciences  of 
men  ?  I  have  great  faith  in  the  outcome 
of  this  discussion.  I  believe  that  we  shall 
know  the  Bible,  and  value  it  and  reverence 
it  as  we  never  did  before.  But  I  am  not,  I 
cannot  be,  blind  to  the  fact  that  the  discus- 
sion is  a  broad  one  and  a  deep  one,  that  it 
involv^es  history  and  philosophy  and  literary 
criticism  ;  that  it  was  Inevitable  ;  that  it  is 
irrepressible  ;  that  it  could  not  have  come 
earlier;  that  it  could  not  be  postponed,  and 
that  the  attitude  which  men  are  taking  in 
science,  philosophy  and  criticism,  make  it  a 
foregone  conclusion  that  the  Bible  must  be 
subjected  to  the  critical  handling  that  it  is 
the  subject  of  to-day. 

The  effect  of  this  will  be  to  force  men  to 
study  the  Bible  more  closely  than  they  have 
ever  done  before  ;  to  neglect,  if  need  be,  all 


ANiWIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES.  2>7 

Other  forms  of  theological  inquiry  in  order 
that  undivided  attention  may  be  given  to  the 
Scriptures.  The  Bible  will  vindicate  itself,  I 
do  not  doubt. 

Nor  do  I  doubt  that  the  discussion  that 
is  going  on  will  give  new  interest  to  our 
study  of  the  Bible.  The  John  Calvin  of  the 
new  theological  era  will  believe,  I  doubt  not, 
in  the  same  doctrines  that  the  Calvin  of 
Geneva  believed  in ;  but  when  he  gathers 
up  the  results  of  all  this  modern  discussion, 
he  will  present  them  not  only  as  doctrines 
that  have  a  logical  relation  in  a  system,  but 
as  divine  ideas  that  have  a  chronolo^rical 
sequence  in  the  unfolding  of  a  plan.  The 
historical  method  will  leave  its  mark  upon 
theology  we  may  be  sure.  And  whether 
that  theology  of  the  next  era  be  called 
Calvinism  or  Anselmianism  or  Augustinian- 
ism,  it  will  certainly  be  Paulinism.  And  as 
evangelical  Christianity  is  Paulinism,  then  if 
Paulinism  is  true,  we  can  say  to-day,  as 
fearlessly  as  Paul  said  It  to  the  Galatians : 
"  If  any  man  preach  any  other  Gospel,  let 
him  be  accursed." 


The 

Influence  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 

UPON  other  Churches 


Rev.  henry  MATTHIAS  BOOTH,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  Auburn  Theological  Seminary 


The    Influence  of  the   Presbyterian 
Church  Upon  Other  Churches. 


Five  and  twenty  years  ago,  the  two 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — the 
Old  School  and  the  New  School — were  re- 
united, after  a  separation  of  more  than  thirty 
years.  During  the  life-time  of  a  generation, 
these  two  branches  of  the  one  Church,  hold- 
ine  the  same  standards  of  doctrine  and  ac- 
cepting  the  same  form  of  government,  had 
developed  independendy.  There  was  very 
little  contact  of  sympathy,  and  fellowship 
was  almost  unknown.  Old  School  ministers 
were  seldom  seen  in  New  School  churches, 
and  New  School  ministers  were"  not  often 
heard  in  Old  School  pulpits.  The  benevo- 
lent and  missionary  activities  flowed  in  dis- 
tinct channels.  MIsunderstandinors  were  fre- 
quent  and  misrepresentation  was  not  un- 
common. Charges  of  heresy  were  met  by 
accusadons     of     bigotry.      Adjectives      were 

41 


42  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES. 

cheap.  Invective  was  the  substitute  of  argu- 
ment. The  world  looked  on  and  wondered. 
The  angels  must  have  wept.  The  blessed 
Redeemer,  who  had  suffered  on  the  cross  to 
make  men  love  one  another,  saw  his  own 
disciples  in  this  painful  state  of  alienation, 
suspicion  and  strife. 

Then  the  gracious  Spirit  of  concord  and 
of  peace  began  to  move,  with  Pentecostal 
effectiveness,  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
Presbyterians  ;  and  anxious  questions  were 
heard,  and  noble  resolutions  were  formed, 
and  prayerful  conferences  were  held,  and 
sincere  friendships  were  established,  and 
Christian  character  was  appreciated.  Soon 
there  was  confession  of  sin,  and  renew^ed 
consecration  to  service  and  devout  gratitude 
to  God ;  and  the  two  branches  of  the  one 
Church  were  reunited  upon  the  substantial 
basis  of  mutual  respect,  confidence  and  affec- 
tion. *'And  what  God  hath  joined  together, 
let  not  man  put  asunder." 

Five  and  twenty  years  have  passed,  and 
the  reunited  Presbyterian  Church  celebrates 
a  silver  wedding,  widi  one  million  communi- 
cants, w^ith  splendid  endowments  of  scholar- 
ship, with   enormous  wealth   and   with  repre- 


ANN  I VE  RSA  R  V  A  DDR  ESSES.  43 

sentatlves  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  There 
is  no  claim  that  this  is  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  with  the  emphasis  upon  the  article. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  recognizes  other 
Churches  as  true  Churches  of  the  one  and 
adorable  ever-blessed  Lord  of  all.  The  ac- 
cepted notes  of  the  Church  are  comprehen- 
sive and  catholic.  Influence  is  possible,  be- 
cause there  are  Churches  to  be  influenced. 
Robinson  Crusoe  cannot  be  influential  until 
Friday  appears.  There  must  be  at  least  two, 
if  influence  is  to  be  exerted.  The  Presbyte- 
rian Church  believes  that  there  is  a  sister- 
hood of  Churches,  whose  relation  is  ex- 
pressed by  St.  Paul,  when  he  says  that,  "if 
one  member  suffereth,  all  the  members  suffer 
with  it;  or  one  member  is  honored,  all  the 
members  rejoice  with  it."  This  sacred  rela- 
tion of  dependence  and  interdependence  is 
divinely  ordained,  as  is  evident  in  what  the 
Master  said  about  the  one  vine  and  the 
many  branches,  and  in  what  his  apostle  said 
of  the  one  body  and  the  many  members. 
There  may  be  unity  with  diversity,  or  unity 
without  uniformity. 

When   then    the   question    of  the  influence 
of     the     Presbyterian     Church     upon     other 


44  ANN  I  VERSA  RY  A  DDRESSES. 

Churches  is  to  be  considered,  it  Is  proper, 
first  of  all,  to  understand  just  what  should 
be  the  Influence  of  a  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Presbyterian  Intiuence  must  be  Christian  In- 
fluence. If  It  Is  not,  so  much  the  worse  for 
Presbyterlanlsm.  But  Presbyterians  wish  to 
know  the  mind  of  Christ ;  and  when  that 
mind  Is  known,  Presbyterians  are  ready  to 
yield  obedience  to  Its  teaching.  They  cannot 
fail,  therefore,  to  be  Interested  In  an  Inquiry 
that  seeks  to  learn  what  Is  the  legitimate 
influence  of  a  Christian  Church. 

I.  The  influence  must  be  favorable  to  the 
truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth.  The  Church  is  God's  witness  to  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  is  the  utterance  of  God. 
It  is  written  In  the  book  of  Genesis:  ''And 
God  said."  That  Is  the  first  hint  that  God 
reveals.  But  when  God  speaks,  the  truth  Is 
made  known  In  the  works  of  nature.  In  the 
divinely  ordered  progress  of  events,  In  the 
Sacred  Oracles,  or  In  the  presence  of  the 
Incarnate  Son.  The  truth  Is  one  and  harmo- 
nious. Apparent  discrepancies  and  contradic- 
tions there  may  be,  because  the  human  per- 
spective Is  not  complete  and  perfect.  But 
when  we  see  as  we  are  seen,  and  when  we 


A  NNI VER  SA  RY  A  DDR  ESSES.  4  5 

know  as  we  are  known,  we  shall  accept  the 
word  of  that  master  mind,  Baron  von  Hum- 
boldt, and  shall  say  of  the  entire  economy, 
"  Cosmos."  For  back  of  the  trudi  is  God, 
who   is   always   and   forever  truth. 

The  Church  has  received  the  truth  as  a 
trust.  This  is  especially  so  as  to  the  truth 
of  Holy  Scripture,  which  is  "  the  only  infal- 
lible rule  of  faith  and  pracdce."  Holy  Scrip- 
ture is  "the  divine  library,"  because  this 
book  of  many  books  was  given  by  God, 
through  the  inspired  activity  of  holy  men,  in 
order  that  we  may  know  authoritatively  what 
we  are  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what 
duties  God  requires  of  us.  The  book  finds 
its  excellence  and  glory  in  its  reveladons  of 
him  who  was  the  wisest  among  the  holy, 
and  the  holiest  among  the  wise.  *'  The  tes- 
timony of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy." 
To  know  him  Is  life  eternal.  He  is  the  ripe 
fruit  of  this  tree  of  life,  whose  leaves  are  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations. 

If  the  truth  is  a  trust,  the  Church  is  a 
steward.  Stewardship  has  its  own  peculiar 
responsibilides  and  duties.  The  property 
entrusted  must  be  inventoried,  examined, 
utilized,    improved    and    transmitted.      When 


46  ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES, 

St.  Paul  said,  "I  have  kept  the  faith,"  he 
did  not  repeat  the  humiliating  confession  of 
the  wicked  and  slothful  servant,  who  had  hid 
his  talent  in  the  earth,  and  who  was  able  to 
return  to  his  lord  just  what  he  had  received  ; 
only  that  and  nothing  more.  The  faith,  as 
the  great  apostle  had  kept  it,  had  been  care- 
fully considered  in  the  profound  studies  of 
that  imperial  intelligence,  and  had  been 
applied  to  every  form  of  sin  and  misery  in 
the  active  service  of  that  prince  of  mission- 
aries. One  has  only  to  read  the  Epistles  to 
the  Romans  and  to  the  Corinthians  to  un- 
derstand what  St.  Paul  meant  by  keeping  the 
faith.  When  he  wrote  to  Timothy  from  his 
prison  cell  in  Rome,  the  faith  was  better  un- 
derstood, was  of  more  practical  service  to 
the  Church  and  the  world,  than  it  was  when 
he  entered  the  synagogue  of  Damascus  to 
preach  his  first  Christian  sermon. 

The  truth  is  a  seed,  a  living  thing,  to  be 
planted,  and  replanted,  to  be  developed  and 
expanded  under  the  blessed  warmth  and  the 
genial  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  to 
make  plain  all  truth,  as  the  Church  may  be 
able  to  receive  it.  The  Church  does  not 
hold  the  truth  as   the    warden    of  the  Tower 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES,  4/ 

of  London  holds  the  crown  jewels  of  Eng- 
land, lo  be  kept  safely,  and  to  be  handed 
over  to  a  successor.  The  truth  is  for  use, 
and  use  means  study  and  work ;  and  with 
both,  new  views  of  the  truth. 

Consequently  the  Church  has  a  definite 
mission.  There  must  be  constraint,  inasmuch 
as  men  everywhere  must  be  told  that  they 
must  accept  certain  essential  and  necessary 
portions  of  the  truth  in  order  to  salvation. 
But  there  should  not  be  restraint  inasmuch 
as  Pauline  intellects  must  inquire,  sweeping 
the  horizons  and  mountinof  to  the  throne  of 
God.  Mary  of  Bethany  does  well  in  insist- 
ing that  her  neighbors  and  friends  must  be 
meek  disciples,  sitting  at  the  Saviour's  feet. 
But  she  would  have  erred  sadly  if  she  had 
rebuked  St.  John,  when  he  had  returned 
from  his  inspired  flight  into  the  heavens,  to 
write  that  sublime  sentence,  ''  In  the  begin- 
ning was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God."  Disciples 
are  a  necessity.  Theologians  are  God's 
gifts.  Let  us  constrain  men  to  become  disci- 
ples. Let  us  not  restrain  our  great  thinkers, 
who  reverently  search  the  heights  and  the 
depths  of  the  truth. 


48  ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES. 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  must  prize  the 
truth.  Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  the 
truth.  No  voice  of  authority,  no  reverence 
for  tradition,  no  attachment  to  statements 
should  ever  interfere  with  the  study  of  the 
truth.  This  has  been  the  mistake  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Let  it  once  be  known 
that  the  Church  has  eyes  in  the  back  of  her 
head  only,  that  the  door  of  inquiry  has  been 
locked  and  the  key  thrown  away,  that  any- 
thing is  to  be  believed  if  Pope  or  Council 
says  so,  and  the  Middle  Age  will  draw  on 
apace,  and  history  will  repeat  itself  in  dec- 
ades of  bigotry,   superstition  and   intolerance. 

The  truth  first,  last  and  always  should  be 
the  watchword  of  the  Church,  which  is  the 
representative  of  one  who  calmly  said.  "  I 
am  the  truth."  To  him  the  Church  cannot 
be  superior.  The  mission  of  the  Church 
must  ever  be  the  mission  of  the  Lord  him- 
self. That  was  a  supreme  moment,  when 
the  Roman  governor,  Pontius  Pilate,  faced 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  Herod  the  Great's 
palace.  Pilate  was  a  typical  Roman  of  the 
empire — luxurious,  politic,  sceptical  and  un- 
sympathetic. Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  his 
prisoner.     In  yonder   garden  of   Gethsemane 


ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES.  49 

he  had  been  arrested,  and  dirough  die 
streets  of  the  city  he  had  been  rudely 
draoraed.  Now  he  stands  alone,  soiled  and 
worn  and  weary,  before  Caesar's  representa- 
tive. The  contrast  is  impressive.  With 
many  questions,  Pilate  inquires  of  Jesus, 
coming  at  last  to  the  crucial  question  : 
''  Art  thou  a  kinor-  ?"  Then  was  heard  an 
answer,  whose  meaning  men  are  still  pon- 
dering ;  for  Jesus  replied  :  "  Thou  sayest 
that  I  am  a  king.  To  this  end  have  I  been 
and  to  this  end  am  I  come  into  the  world, 
that  I  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth. 
Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my 
voice." 

Can  we  ask  for  more,  we  w^ho  recognize, 
in  Pilate's  prisoner,  the  Son  of  God,  equal 
with  the  Father,  our  incarnate  Lord  and 
Saviour  ? 

2.  The  influence  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  should  be  promotive  of  holiness  in^ 
character  and  conduct.  Holiness  is  by  the 
truth ;  the  answer  to  the  Prayer  of  Inter- 
cession, "  Sanctify  them  in  the  truth,  thy 
word  is  truth."  A  Church  that  is  indifferent 
to  holiness  has  become  a  synagogue  of  Sa- 
tan.    Stately   cathedrals    may   shelter  such   a 


5  O  ANNl  VERSA R  Y  ADDRESSES. 

Church,  magnificent  services  may  win  to  it 
adherents,  gold  and  silver  may  be  freely 
poured  into  its  treasury,  the  great  men  of 
the  eardi  may  be  enrolled  in  its  member- 
ship, but  if  holiness  is  the  one  thing  lack- 
ing, that  Church  is  dead,  even  if  it  bears 
an  honored  name.  The  glory  of  the  Church 
is  the  holy  living  of  the  membership. 
"  Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,"  said  Jesus, 
"  that  ye  bear  much  fruit,  so  shall  ye  be 
my  disciples."  That  branch  of  the  holy 
Church  Catholic  that  can  produce  holy  men 
and  women — and  the  most  of  them — is  the 
branch  that  Is  drawing  life  from  the  living 
vine.  Surely  we  can  agree  as  to  this,  and 
so  we  are  ready  for  a  third  statement. 

3.  The  Influence  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  must  be  responsive  to  the  great  com- 
mission. The  truth,  holiness,  missionary  zeal 
— this  is  the  trinity  of  the  Church's  graces. 
Holiness  through  the  truth  and  service 
through  holiness.  The  Church  must  be  a 
working  Church.  Our  Lord  has  no  visible 
hands,  feet  or  lips,  save  those  of  his  Church. 
Sin  is  to  be  overcome  by  the  Church.  The 
army  of  the  Lord  must  be  In  batde  all  of 
the  time.     Recruits  are    to  be   enlisted,  disci- 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES.  51 

pllned  and  sent  forward  to  the  field,  where 
the  cannonading  is  incessant.  Oh  for  more 
of  the  soldier's  ardor!  Oh  for  more  of  the 
enthusiasm  of  warfare  !  Ours  is  a  holy  war. 
Immanuel  is  the  Captain  of  our  salvation. 
Victory  is  assured.  Oh  for  more  faith,  more 
courage,  more  heroism  !  It  was  on  Lookout 
Mountain,  where  the  battle  raged  above  the 
clouds,  that  a  surgeon  bent  over  a  young 
soldier,  who  had  been  wounded  in  the 
breast.  There  was  much  blood  and  dust 
upon  the  coat,  and  the  wound  was  not 
readily  detected.  ''  Where  were  you  hit, 
my  boy,"  asked  the  surgeon,  ''  where  were 
you  hit?"  "Almost  at  the  top,  sir,"  was 
the  faint  reply.  "No,  no,"  interrupted  the 
surgeon,  "  not  that.  Where  did  the  ball 
strike  you  ?"  And  again  the  heroic  thought 
found  utterance,  as  .  the  dying  soldier  an- 
swered, *'  I  was  almost  at  the  top,  sir." 
And  with  that  he  died.  Patriotism  will  lead 
men  to  count  life  cheap,  if  they  can  carry 
the  flag  of  their  country  into  battle  above 
the  clouds ;  what  will  the  love  of  Jesus  do 
for  the  Christian  who  is  engaged  in  a  holy 
war  ?  Oh,  friends,  the  Church  has  not  met 
duty     and     privilege.     We    have    too     much 


52  A  NNI  VERSA R  Y  ADDRESSES. 

camp  life.  We  are  too  fond  of  dress 
parade.  We  are  resting  in  the  trenches. 
Too  few  of  us  are  on  the  battle  line.  Here, 
however,  we  find  the  legitimate  influence  of 
a  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  Witnessing,  liv- 
ing, working,  that  Jesus  Christ  may  be 
known,  and  honored,  and  served,  and  loved ; 
that  is  the  influence ;  and  God  grant  that 
it  may  abound  yet  more  and  more. 

Now  we  may  ask,  and  answer,  a  second 
question,  which  is  this  :  Why  is  the  Presby- 
terian Church  able  to  exert  the  influence  of 
a  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  We  may  reply, 
at  once,  by  pointing  to  the  Standards  of  the 
Church,  especially  to  the  first  chapter  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  and  to  the  definition  of 
the  Church.  That  first  chapter  is  a  clear 
statement  of  fundamental  principles.  No 
Church  with  such  principles  can  be  true  to 
its  Standards  and  be  false  to  the  truth. 
God  is  distinctly  recognized  as  the  Author 
and  the  Inspiration  of  Revelation,  while  the 
supremacy  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  the  right 
of  private  judgment  under  the  enlightenment 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  -as  clearly  stated. 
That  first  chapter  is  a  wonderful  composi- 
tion ;    and   the    chapters    that    follow   it   have 


ANN  I VERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES.  5  3 

not,  as  yet,  been  surpassed  as  expressions 
of  the  truth.  That  they  may  be  surpassed, 
and  that  they  will  be  surpassed.  Is  certain. 
For,  as  the  years  go  on,  the  Holy  Spirit 
will  lead  Presbyterians  of  this,  or  of  another, 
generation,  to  state  more  simply  and  con- 
cisely the  essential  and  necessary  truths  of 
the  system,  which  we  believe  is  the  thought 
of  God. 

Then  the  definition  of  the  Church  that  rec- 
ognizes the  sovereign  grace  of  God  in  the 
call  of  the  divine  Spirit,  and  that  finds  the 
Church  visible  '*in  all  those  throughout  the 
world  that  profess  the  true  religion,  together 
with  their  children,"  does  not  unchurch  any 
of  the  true  followers  of  our  Lord,  is  able 
to  accept  as  valid  the  orders  that  may  still 
be  regarded  as  irregular,  and  enables  the 
Presbyterian  Church  to  exert  a  powerful  in- 
fluence in  the  reunion  of  Christendom.  We 
prefer  our  own  doctrine  and  polity,  else  we 
should  seek  some  other.  But  in  so  saying, 
we  can  rejoice  heartily  in  the  prosperity  of 
the  other  branches  oi  the  visible  Church, 
whose  preferences,  as  to  details  of  belief  or 
order,  may  not  be  ours.  The  Presbyterian 
Church  can  acknowledge  the  ordinations  and 


54  A  NNI  VERSA  RY  A  DDR  ESSES. 

the  baptisms  of  other  Churches,  even  when 
those  Churches  refuse  to  allow  that  our  min- 
isters have  been  ordained,  or  that  our  mem- 
bers have  been  baptized. 

Then  the  equipment  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  favorable  to  holiness  and  to  ser- 
vice. Ours  is  a  Biblical  Church,  and  the 
Bible  makes  holiness.  In  our  sanctuaries 
pictures  and  crucifixes  are  not  commended  ; 
but  the  Holy  Bible  is.  When  in  the  city 
of  Edinburgh,  I  saw  the  Cameronian  High- 
landers marching  from  the  Castle  to  St. 
Giles  Cathedral.  They  were  in  full  uniform. 
Yet  not  a  weapon  of  war  was  visible,  save 
the  side  arms  of  the  officers,  and  ''the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God," 
held  firmly  in  the  hand  of  every  soldier.  As 
I  saw  them  marching  by,  and  recalled  the 
splendid  achievements  of  the  Cameronians 
in  many  a  struggle  for  liberty,  I  said:  "The 
Hiorhland  blood  is  warlike.     Blood  tells.     But 

o 

Bible  and  blood  are  invincible." 

The  organization  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  was  eloquently  presented  in  the  ser- 
mon of  the  retiring  Moderator,  Dr.  Mutch- 
more,  whose  earnest  appeal  for  work  should 
stir  the   entire    Church    to    renewed   activity. 


ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES.  55 

The  machinery  is  abundant.  Now  what  of 
the  spirit?  Children  may  play  with  cannon 
balls  and  with  gunpowder,  and  doves  may 
build  their  nests  in  cannons'  mouths.  But 
when  a  spark  touches  the  gunpowder  back 
of  the  cannon  ball  in  the  cannon,  then  look 
out.  Has  the  Presbyterian  Church  the  true 
spirit  of  service?  I  believe  that  she  has. 
Her  membership  are  anxious  to  be  led  to 
renewed  activity.  The  appeal  is  for  leader- 
ship against  every  form  of  evil.  We  are  a 
prayerful  people.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  our 
dependence.  We  want  to  go  forward.  Many 
of  us  are  eager  for  less  debate  and  more 
evangelization.  The  open  doors  of  opportu- 
nity make  us  impatient  of  delay.  We  cannot 
bear  to  hear  that  the  chariot  wheels  are 
dragging  heavily,  that  debts  are  paralyzing 
our  missionary  agencies.  We  must  go  for- 
ward. Our  young  men  and  maidens  are 
ready.  The  call  is  loud.  Our  ambition  is 
that  this  grand  Church  of  our  fathers  shall 
stand  conspicuous  as  the  greatest  mission- 
ary force  in  the  world. 

You  may  remember  the  song.  The  sing- 
ing pilgrim — Philip  Philips — used  to  sing  it 
during  the   sad,  dark  days   of  the  war — 


56  ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES. 

"  If  you  cannot  cross  the  ocean 

And  the  heathen  lands  explore. 
You  can  find  the  heathen  nearer, 

You  can  help  them  at  your  door. 
If  you  cannot  speak  like  angels. 

If  you  cannot  preach  like  Paul, 
You  can  tell  the  love  of  Jesus, 

You  can  say  he  died  for  all." 

That  is  Presbyterianism,  as  we  would  see  the 
Church,  and  as  we  are  led  by  the  Standards 
to  contemplate  the  proper  activity  of  the 
Church.  This  should  be  our  influence.  Is 
it?  Let  the  historian  reply.  Mine  is  not  his 
province.  From  the  position  of  a  pracdcal 
consideraUon,   let  me  tell    you,   as  I  close  : 

4.  How  the  Presbyterian  Church  may 
reach  other  Churches  with  the  influence  of  a 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  Surely  you  antici- 
pate me.  You  already  know  that  I  shall 
say,  By  being  faithful.  That  is  all.  Fidelity 
to  the  Standards  of  the  Church,  and  fidelity 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Church  will  prove  the 
blessed  influence.  This  fidelity  will  find  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  three  places,  where 
many  of  us  are  glad  to  find  her. 

a.  In  the  study,  seeking  to  know  the 
truth.  The  Presbyterian  Church  is  confess- 
edly   an    intellectual  power.     What  the  Pres- 


A  NNI VER  SA  R  V  A  DDR  ESSE  S.  S7 

byterlan  Church  has  to  say  commands  atten- 
tion everywhere.  Our  scholarship  is  honored. 
Schools,  colleges  and  seminaries  are  always 
found  alongside  of  our  sanctuaries.  The 
three  conspicuous  theologians  of  the  century, 
here  in  the  United  States,  have  been  Charles 
Hodge,  Henry  B.  Smith  and  William  G.  T. 
Shedd,  all  Presbyterians.  I  knew  them  well, 
and  two  of  them  were  my  instructors.  They 
were  truth-loving  men,  and  they  labored,  by 
day  and  by  night,  to  make  the  truth  plain  to 
the  Church  and  the  world.  They  must  have 
successors.  Our  system  of  doctrine  was 
modified,  in  its  interpretation  and  application, 
by  these  great  men,  who  brought  the  popular 
interpretation  to  the  test  of  the  truth.  And 
the  end  is  not  yet. 

Whatever  interpretation  cannot  bear  the 
test  of  the  truth  must  be  modified  or 
dropped.  We  build  the  sepulchres  of  these 
noble  students,  whose  work  is  finished,  and 
we  are  apt  to  forget  that  the  time  was,  when, 
even  they,  were  as  a  voice,  crying  in  the 
wilderness,  with  few  to  hear,  and  fewer  still 
to  heed.  Let  us  learn  the  lesson  of  the 
past.  Devout  scholarship  must  be  honored. 
We   must  have  more  confidence  in  the  truth. 


58  A  NNI VER  SA  RY  A  DDR  ESSES. 

We  must  await  with  patience,  until  hypoth- 
eses have  become  established  or  scattered  to 
the  winds.  Then  may  we  expect  that  our 
Church  will  influence  other  Churches  in  favor 
of  the  truth,  and  will  lead  them  to  cast  away 
the  accretions  of  venerable  superstitions,  that 
together  we  may  rejoice  in  the  simplicity 
that  is  in   Christ. 

b.  Fidelity  will  find  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  closet,  kneeling  in  prayer  to 
God.  If  we  are  to  be  a  holy  Church,  we 
must  be  a  praying  Church.  One  of  the 
fathers,  whose  memory  is  still  like  spikenard, 
was  old  Dr.  Skinner,  and  we  knew  him  as 
a  holy  man  of  God.  And  he  once  told  me 
how  much  of  his  day  was  given  to  prayer. 
We  believe  in  prayer.  The  Holy  Spirit  is 
given  in  answer  to  prayer.  Let  us  match 
our  belief  with  our  practice,  and  what  re- 
vivals will  speedily  be  recorded  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  Church  ! 

c.  If  faithful,  the  Presbyterian  Church  will 
be  on  the  field,  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature.  Our  blue  banner  floats,  to- 
day, at  Point  Barrow  on  the  Arctic  Ocean  ; 
and  there  is  no  Christian  flag  floating  nearer 
to    the    North    Pole.     Thank    God     for   that  ! 


ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES.  59 

Our  Presbyterian  women  went  as  missiona- 
ries to  Alaska,  when  Mr.  Seward's  purchase 
of  that  wealthy  territory  was  still  the  ridicule 
of  the  American  people.  Thank  God  for 
that  !  Our  Presbyterian  preachers  penetra- 
ted Utah,  when  Brigham  Young  was  the- 
despotic  ruler  of  that  fair  portion  of  the 
national  domain,  and  when  a  Gentile  preach- 
er's head  was  not  safe  on  his  shoulders  over 
night.  Thank  God  for  that  !  Presbyterian 
scholars  have  made  the  slope  of  Lebanon 
the  beacon  of  all  the  Arabic-speaking  world. 
Thank  God  for  that  !  Presbyterian  heroes 
and  heroines  have  gone,  with  the  light  of 
life,  into  the  darkness  of  Africa.  Thank 
God  for  that !  Presbyterian  educators  have 
had  their  part  In  the  awakening  of  Japan 
and  China  and  India.  Thank  God  for  that ! 
Ours  is  a  missionary  Church.  Remember 
Henry  Kendall,  that  grand  statesman  in 
Home  Missions,  who  has  written  his  name 
across  this  broad  continent,  and  whose  rec- 
ompense in  heaven  has  already  been  be- 
stowed; and  John  C.  Lowrie,  who  after  years 
of  service  abroad  has  given  us  years  of  wis- 
dom at  home,  and  who  still  abides  with  us 
as  a  benediction  upon  our  work.     These  men 


6o  ANNI  VERSA R  V  ADDRESSES. 

and  others  like  them  are  Presbyterianism  In- 
carnate, on  the  Home  and  the  Foreign  Field. 
Their  Presbyterianism  Is  grandly  Intluentlal. 
Let  us  have  more  of  it.  Let  all  the  Churches 
know  that  our  young  men  and  maidens  are 
recruits  ;  that  our  equipment  Is  complete  and 
effective  ;  that  our  treasury  Is  full,  and  over- 
flowing ;  that  we  are  about  the  Master's  busi- 
ness. Let  other  Churches  have  a  monopoly 
of  strife  over  questions  of  orders  and  succes- 
sions, of  baptisms  and  the  laying  on  of  hands, 
of  dogmatic  subtleties  about  which  one  man 
knows  as  much  as  another,  and  no  man 
knows  anything  at  all.  Let  the  Presbyterian 
Church  be  content  to  exert  an  influence, 
direct  and  positive,  in  favor  of  the  truth,  in 
favor  of  holiness,  and  in  favor  of  bringing 
this  world  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ.  To 
make  him  known,  to  acquaint  men  with  his 
sympathy  and  love,  to  brighten  life  with  his 
presence,  and  to  people  heaven  with  the 
willing  captives  of  his  redeeming  grace — let 
that  be  the  ambition  of  this  grand  old 
Church,  whose  history  Is  prophetic  of  the 
triumph  of  our  Lord  and  King. 

That  was  a  period  of  anxiety  and  of  sore 
distress,  when    the  English  garrison  of  Luck- 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES.  6l 

now  awaited  the  coming  of  Sir  Henry  Have- 
lock.  Men's  hearts  failed  them,  and  women 
died  through  fear  and  grief.  Within  the  gar- 
rison, starvation  was  a  threatening  presence  ; 
while  without,  the  angry  roaring  of  the  blood- 
thirsty Sepoys  was  incessant.  Then  one  day, 
through  the  camp,  there  ran  a  Scottish 
maiden,  with  hair  disheveled,  and  the  wild 
eyes  of  a  hungry  maniac,  shrieking,  as  she 
ran:  "  Dinna  ye  hear  It?  Dinna  ye  hear  it? 
'Tis  the  pibroch  of  the  Highlanders."  But 
ears,  grown  dull  after  many  disappointments, 
could  detect  only  the  mad  outcries  of  the 
dreaded  foe,  and  the  command  V\;"ent  forth 
that  the  Scottish  maiden  should  be  silenced. 
Silence,  however,  could  not  be  enforced,  and, 
ever  and  anon,  the  garrison  rang  with  the 
exclamation  :  '*  Dinna  ye  hear  it  ?  Dinna  ye 
hear  it  ?  '  Fis  the  pibroch  of  the  Highland- 
ers." Soon  there  was  borne  upon  the  air, 
those  familiar  strains  that  never  fail  to 
quicken  the  heart-beats  of  Scodand's  sons, 
as  the  beleaguered,  despairing  garrison  heard 
the  bagpipes  playing,  "  The  Campbells  are 
Coming."  Then  strong  men  bowed  their 
heads,  and  wept ;  and  women  fell  upon  their 
knees  In  prayer,  and  Havelock  was  at  the 
gates,  and  Lucknow  was  delivered. 


62  ANNl  VERSAR  V  ADDRESSES. 

We  observe,  and  we  listen  to  the  sounds 
around  us  ;  and  it  sometimes  seems  as  if 
Satan  had  been  let  loose  to  turn  this  fair 
earth  into  hell  itself  Poverty,  misery,  shame, 
violence,  oppression,  war,  are  so  evident,  and 
so  alarming.  And  the  Churches  appear  to 
be  so  indifferent,  so  much  occupied  with 
themselves,  so  eager  for  strife,  that  in  our 
grief  of  heart  we  cry,  "  How  long,  oh  Lord, 
how  long  ?"  Then,  in  our  extremity,  when 
almost  ready  to  despair,  we  realize  that  de- 
liverance is  at  hand,  for  above  the  tumult 
and  the  strife  we  hear  the  notes  of  that  glo- 
rious Christian  song,  which  was  heard  five 
and  twenty  years  ago,  within  these  sacred 
walls,  when  the  reunion  was  accomplished, 
and  which  expresses  the  faith,  the  purpose 
and  the  hope  of  every  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  ;  for  the  holy  ones,  who  love  the 
Lord,  and  who  are  waiting  and  working  for 
his  appearing,   are  singing  sweetly  : 

"All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name. 
Let  angels  prostrate  fall  ; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 
And  crown  him  Lord  of  all." 

It  is  enough.  Deliverance  is  at  hand. 
The  influence  of  the  Church  is  evident. 
Jesus  is  crowned. 


The 

Growth  and  Future  of  the 

Reunited  Church 


BV   THE 

Rev.  \VM.  HENRY  ROBERTS,  D.D.,  LL.U., 
Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly 


The  Growth  and  Future  of  the 
Reunited  Church, 


The  reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School 
Churches  in  the  historic  Third  and  First 
Churches  of  Pittsburgh,  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago,  was  an  event  which  in  its  magni- 
tude, its  significance  and  its  possibihties  was 
unparalleled  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  Two  great 
Churches  combined  to  usher  in  a  new  era  for 
the  common  Presbyterianism,  the  era  of  unity, 
missionary  activity  and  the  concentration  of 
magnificent  resources,  both  in  means  and 
men,   for  the  spiritual  conquest  of  the  world. 

In  dealing  with  the  subject,  "  The  Growth 
and  Future  of  the  Reunited  Church,"  consider 
first  and  concisely,  the  facts  connected  with 
Reunion. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America  was  divided  into  two 
bodies  in    1838,    in  part  by  theological    differ- 

^5 


66  ANNI VERSAK  Y  ADDRESSES. 

ences,  but  mainly  upon  issues  of  policy  and 
administration.  The  Presbyterian  churches, 
ordinarily,  when  divided,  have  never  been 
parted  by  doctrinal  questions  solely;  the 
wedge  of  division  has  always  had  as  its 
keen  and  separating  edge  some  practical 
question  which  all  persons  could  understand, 
and  with  which  all  were  in  some  manner 
connected.  In  1838,  chief  among  practical 
divisive  questions  was  the  conduct  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  its  missionary  work, 
through  agencies  under  its  own  control. 
That  question  was  settled  for  the  Old  School 
Church  by  the  creation  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in  1838,  and  by 
the  New  School  Church  in  1861,  by  the  es- 
tablishment, in  response  to  the  demands  of 
its  ministers  and  members,  of  the  Permanent 
Committee  of  Home  Missions.  The  latter 
action  was  the  initial  step  in  Reunion,  for  it 
was  the  full  and  final  acceptance,  on  the  part 
of  the  New  School,  of  the  principle,  that  the 
Church  must  control  its  own  missionary  agen- 
cies. 

This  decisive  act  was  followed  four  years 
later  by  proposals  for  Reunion,  made  by 
both   Assemblies    at    nearly   the    same    time. 


ANNl  VERSA R  Y  ADDRESSES.  6/ 

The  negotiations  were  carried  forward  by 
committees,  composed  of  ministers  and  el- 
ders, of  both  Churches,  until  May,  1869, 
when  the  two  Assemblies,  convened  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  sent  down  what  is  called 
the  "  Basis  of  Union "  to  the  Presbyteries 
for  their  consideration.*^  The  answers  to 
this  overture  were  reported  at  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  at  adjourned  meetings  held  by  the  Old 
School  in  the  First  Church,  and  by  the  New- 
School  in  the  Third  Church,  in  November, 
1869.  The  vote  of  the  Presbyteries  upon 
the  overture  was  239  in  the  affirmative  to 
three  in  the  negative;  all  the  New  School 
Presbyteries  voting  in  favor  of  the  Reunion. 
On  November  1 2,  the  two  Assemblies,  led 
by  those  saintly  and  now  sainted  men,  Rev. 
Melancthon  W.  Jacobus,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  Phil- 
emon Halstead  Fowler,  D.D.,  entered  arm  in 
arm  into  the  Third  Church,  and,  followed  by 
all  the  commissioners  and  officers  of  the  two 
Assemblies,  organized  what  was  known  as 
the  Reunion   Convention. 

In  the  historic  paper  adopted  by  that  con- 
vention are  found  the  folio  wine  words,  which 
evidence    clearly    the   spirit   of    the    Presbyte- 
*See  p.  9. 


68  ANN  I  VERSA  K  V  ADD  R  ESSES. 

rians  of  that  day.  They  said:  "In  this  union 
are  seen  the  outflashing  of  a  divine  purpose 
to  lead  us  on  to  greater  self  sacrifice,  and  a 
more  entire  consecration  to  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world.  New  and  grander  respon- 
sibilities rest  upon  us.  Jesus  summons  us  to 
a  holier  faith  and  more  perfect  consecration. 
He  summons  this  Church  to  answer  his  lov- 
ing kindness  by  deeds  commensurate  with 
our  renewed  resources.  The  times  are  aus- 
picious ;  everywhere  peace  reigns  ;  the  gates 
are  open,  and  the  millions  of  our  own  and 
other  lands  wait  for  the  Gospel.  Our  posi- 
tion is  commanding,  our  resources  great,  our 
methods  of  action  well  setded,  simple  and 
efficient.  The  Spirit  of  God  that  has  united 
us  will  Inspire,  direct  and  bless  our  efforts. 
While  we  maintain  the  faith  which  Paul  so 
fully  unfolded,  and  our  Church  in  the  centu- 
ries past  has,  through  manifold  persecution 
and  martyrdom,  so  gloriously  upheld,  we  are 
summoned,  as  by  the  will  of  God,  to  arise 
and  build,  to  form  new,  broader  and  bolder 
plans  for  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
and  enter  upon  and  execute  them  with  apos- 
tolic enthusiasm." 

Such    was    the    spirit  which    controlled    the 


ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES.  69 

Presbyterians  of  a  generation  ago,  and  such 
the  hopes  which  animated  them  as  they 
looked  forward  to  the  future.  Have  their 
expectations  been  reahzed  ?  Has  God  ap- 
proved their  faith  and  spirit  by  the  work 
which  he  has  wrought  in  and  through  the 
reunited  Church? 

Statistics  at  times  are  inspiring  as  well  as 
instructive.  The  figures  presented  in  this 
address  are  for  the  period  from  1870-94,  for 
the  quarter  century  following  upon  Reunion, 
ended  with  November   12,  in  the  latter  year. 

The  blessing  of  God  upon  the  Church 
during  this  period  is  marked  in  nearly  all 
the  departments   of  church  activity. 

Take  first  the  statistics  of  organizations 
and  persons.  The  local  churches,  instead 
of  being  diminished  by  the  union  of  the 
two  bodies,  steadily  increased  from  4526  in 
1870,  to  7387  in  1894.  Ordained  ministers, 
who  numbered  in  1870,  4238,  were  in  1894, 
6641.  The  communicants  in  1870,  446,561, 
increased  in  the  quarter  century  to  895,997, 
an  increase  of  more  than  one  hundred  per 
cent.  And  the  members,  teachers  and  offi- 
cers of  the  Sabbath-schools,  during  the  same 
period,    advanced    numerically    from     448,857 


70  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES. 

to  951,199,  an  increase  of  one  hundred  and 
twelve  per  cent.  There  is  no  fact  connected 
with  the  statistics  of  persons  for  the  period 
more  inspiring  for  the  future,  than  the  ad- 
vance just  noted  in  the  number  of  children 
under  Christian  instruction  within  the 
Church.  That  Church  is  a  living  Church  in 
more  senses  than  one,  whose  children  in- 
crease, comparatively  speaking,  at  a  more 
rapid  ratio  than   the  adults. 

Take  next  the  statistics  of  contributions. 
Here  also  decided  and  auspicious  progress 
is  manifest.  The  contributions  for  congrega- 
tional purposes  were  in  1870,  $6,416,165,  and 
in  1894,  $10,300,761  ;  the  contributions  for 
miscellaneous  benevolent  work,  in  1870, 
$690,636,  rose  in  1894  to  $1,025,695;  and 
those  to  the  Boards  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, in  the  former  year,  $1,300,686,  were  in 
the  latter  year,  $2,600,931."^ 

The  total  contributions  to  the  benevolent 
agencies    of    the    Church    for    the    period,    as 

*It  is  to  be  noted  in  connection  with  the  contributions  to 
the  Boards,  that  there  was  no  per  capita  advance  in  iheir 
amount  in  1894  as  over  against  1870,  the  communicants  and 
the  contributions  having  both  doubled  during  the  quarter 
century.  The  gifts  to  the  Boards  have  not  kept  pace  with 
the  increase  of  the  Church  in  wealth. 


ANNIVEKSAR  Y  ADDRESSES. 


7^ 


reported  ia   the   Minutes  of  the  General  As- 
sembly,  were  as   follows  : 


Home  Missions, 

.     $15,320,520 

Foreign  Missions, 

13.526,844 

Education, 

4,424,054 

Publication  and  S.  S.  Work, 

1.538,836 

Church  Erection, 

2,618,723 

Relief. 

5.207,155 

Freed  men. 

1,953.960 

Aid  for  Colleges, 

1.813.558 

Sustentation, 

902.776 

Total. 

$47,306,426 

In  addition  to  the  contributions  to  the 
Boards,  the  churches  gave  the  sum  of 
^24,280,002  to  miscellaneous  benevolence, 
and  $192,044,780  to  congregational  support, 
or  a  grand  total  for  all  contributions  of 
$263,631,208,  or  an  average  of  $10,500,000 
per  annum. 

This  is  a  financial  record  which  cannot  be 
equaled  in  any  other  American  Protestant 
Church.  In  its  sum  total  it  is  lar^fer  than 
the  gifts  for  the  same  period  by  any  other 
denoniination  on  this  continent,  and  as  com- 
pared with  the  ordinary  condition  of  affairs 
in  European  Churches,  it  emphasizes  in  a 
marked  manner  the  value  of  that  voluntary 
system    under  which  our  American  Churches 


72  ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES. 

thrive.  A  free  Church  in  a  free  State  comes 
increasingly  under  the  influence  of  the  Savi- 
our's command,  ''Freely  ye  have  received, 
freely  give." 

But  it  is  not  alone  by  such  statistics  as 
have  been  presented,  that  the  advance  of 
the  Church  under  the  blessing  of  God  is  to 
be  estimated  for  the  quarter  century  period. 
There  have  been  notable  events  as  well  as 
notable  gifts.  To  indicate  a  few  out  of 
many. 

That  efficient  agency  of  the  Church,  the 
Board  of  Aid  for  Colleges  and  Academies, 
was  established  in  1883,  and  in  the  work 
it  has  achieved  has  renewed  in  the  present 
the  glorious  record  of  our  Church  in  the 
past,  in  connection  with  education.  During 
the  quarter-century  the  Church  aided  through 
it  in  the  establishment  of  more  than  forty 
institutions. 

In  1886,  the  Sabbath-school  department  of 
the  Board  of  Publication  v/as  reoreanized. 
and  became  an  agency  in  full  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  Church  and 
the  demands  of  the  times,  rendering  admir- 
able service  in  a  department  of  religious 
work,    which,    prior    to    this    nineteenth   cen- 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES.  73 

tury,  had  received  but  litde  attendon.  The 
Sabbadi-school  work  of  diis  Board  in  1870 
consisted  simply,  of  the  publication  of  books, 
tracts,  and  periodicals,  but  during-  the  year 
ending  April,  1894,  the  Sabbath-school  mis- 
sionaries employed  numbered  157,  the  num- 
ber of  schools  organized  was  Z^o,  the  ex- 
penditures were  ^135,041,  and  the  Board 
distributed  free  of  charge,  17,344,938  pages 
of  tracts  and  periodicals. 

The  Board  of  Relief  expended  during  the 
year  1894,  i^  behalf  of  the  many  endtled, 
for  Christ's  dear  sake,  to  an  adequate  sup- 
port after  long  years  of  service,  the  sum  of 
$159,576.27,  nearly  two  and  a  half  times  the 
amount  distributed  in  1870;  and  its  Perma- 
ment  Fund  was  enlarged  during  the  quar- 
ter century  from  $41,441    to  $1,386,776. 

The  Board  of  Educadon  had  under  its 
care  in  1870,  391  candidates  for  the  minis- 
try, and  in  1894,  1032,  a  remarkable  in- 
crease; while  the  total  number  of  such  can- 
didates for  the  quarter  century  was  4484, 
as  against  3715  for  the  period  from  181 9  to 
1869.  Evidently  the  Church  will  not  suffer 
from  a  lack  of   ministers. 

The  Board  of  Freedmen  has  conducted  its 


74  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES. 

work  among  our  colored  population  in  the 
South  with  great  success,  and  having  scarcely 
anything  in  the  way  of  resources  in  1870, 
has  now  in  its  service  200  colored  minis- 
ters, instructs  in  its  agencies  more  than 
10,000  pupils,  and  has  under  its  care  ^^ 
schools  and  306  churches. 

The  Board  of  Church  Erection  has  aided 
in  the  building  of  3778  church  edifices, 
whose  total  value  is  in  the  neighborhood  of 
J 1 2,000,000. 

The  work  of  Home  Missions  also  made 
decided  advance.  In  1870,  the  Woman's 
Executive  Committee  was  not  in  existence. 
There  were  three  missionaries  in  Colorado, 
and  a  half-dozen  scattered  over  the  re- 
mainder of  the  farther  West.  The  whole 
country  beyond  Iowa  was  virtually  unoccu- 
pied. But  during  the  quarter  century,  the 
Home  Board  has  spent  at  least  $7,000,000 
west  of  the  Missouri,  and,  as  a  result  of  its 
magnificent  work,  the  whole  region  is  dotted 
to-day  with  Presbyterian  churches. 

In  Foreign  Mission  work  likewise,  prosper- 
ity has  crowned  the  Church's  efforts.  The 
total  number  of  communicants  in  our  Foreign 
Mission  churches  in   1870  was  less  than  3000, 


A JVAV P^ERSARY  A DDRESSES.  7 5 

while  III  the  single  year  1894,  there  were 
added  to  the  mission  churches  3141  converts; 
and  in  addition,  through  medical  missions  and 
2,T^  hospitals,  the  Church  cared  for  the  bodies 
as  well  as  the  souls  of  men,  thus  following- 
closely  in  the  Master's  footsteps  while  on 
earth. 

It  can  be  truly  said  of  all  the  missionary 
and  benevolent  Boards,  that  they  have  been 
greatly  prospered  in  their  work  for  Christ. 

The  theological  seminaries  of  the  Church 
have  also  shared  in  the  prosperity  with 
which  God  has  blessed  his  people.  They 
have  more  than  doubled  the  number  of  stu- 
dents within  their  halls,  quadrupled  their 
financial  resources,  and  Increased  their  num- 
ber by  three  institutions — the  seminaries  at 
San  Francisco,  Biddle  University  and  Omaha. 

Chief,  however,  among  the  progressive 
events  signalizing  this  period  of  our  history, 
is  the  opening  wide  of  the  door  of  activity 
to  Christian  women.  This  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is,  like  the  first  century,  peculiarly  mis- 
sionary and  evangelistic  In  lis  temper ;  and 
as  of  old  in  New  Testament  times,  so  now, 
woman  has  been  summoned,  In  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  to  prayer  and  to  active  work 


76  A  NNI  VERSA  RY  A  DDR  ESSES. 

for  the  salvation  of  souls  and  the  advance- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom. 

The  first  orcranization  of  Christian  women 
for  Christ's  work  within  our  denomination 
was  formed  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in 
1870.  The  establishment  of  the  Woman's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  followed  in 
due  time  by  the  organization  of  five  other 
similar  societies  in  different  portions  of  the 
Church.  In  1878,  the  Woman's  Executive 
Committee  of  Home  Missions  was  organized 
in  New  York  city,  and  in  1885  the  work  of 
missions  among  the  Freedmen  was  also  as- 
signed to  the  fosterlnof  care  of  this  latter 
organization.  The  success  which  has  attend- 
ed the  work  of  these  societies,  in  many  lines, 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  during  the  last 
year  of  the  quarter  century,  their  organized 
agencies  contributed  to  the  missionary  work 
of  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad  the  sum 
of  $631,000. 

More  and  more  may  the  Church  give 
these  workers  for  Christ  opportunity  for 
service.  There  is  a  demand  in  these  closlno- 
years  of  t*he  nineteenth  century,  for  gifts 
and  work  and  workers,  above  all  preceding 
years,    and    grandly    have    the    Churches    of 


ANNI VERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES.  77 

Christ  responded  to  his  summons.  Women^s 
societies,  Young  People^s  socieUes,  Brother- 
hoods of  men,  and  other  similar  organiza- 
tions, are  the  natural  outcome  of  the  in- 
tense Christian  life  now  everywhere  mani- 
fest. The  century  which  opened  with  the 
organization  of  Bible  societies,  Sabbath- 
schools  and  missionary  organizations,  has  at 
last  culminated  in  the  divine  summons  to 
labor  given  to  all  Christ's  disciples,  without 
distinction  of  age  or  sex.  The  signs  indi- 
cate that  another  Pentecost  is  nigh  at  hand. 
That  a  Pentecostal  baptism  of  power  is 
among  the  possibilities  of  the  near  future,  is 
suggested  by  the  statement  of  the  totals  of 
the  statistics  of  persons  for  the  quarter  cen- 
tury. The  Church  of  Christ  exists  solely 
for  the  salvation  of  mankind,  both  for  time 
and  eternity.  Dollars  are  the  signs  of  the 
interest  of  the  Church  in  Christ's  work  ; 
converts  are  the  proof  of  the  divine  bless- 
ing upon  that  work.  The  fact  is,  therefore, 
greatly  significant,  that  from  1870  to  1894 
there  were  added  to  this  Church,  on  profes- 
sion of  their  faith,  1,040,949  persons,  a  vast 
multitude  of  disciples,  both  men  and  women. 
Of   these  converts  362,344   were  adults,  who 


78  A  NNI VERSAK  Y  A  DDR  ESSES, 

were  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Triune 
God  ;  their  baptism  the  proof  that  the 
Church  has  still  power  not  only  with  young 
but  likewise  with  mature  persons.  The  in- 
fant baptisms  during-  the  period  were  515,559, 
rising  from  16,746  in  1870,  to  28,051  in 
1894,  giving  the  Church  to  be  in  truth  a 
divine  earthly  family,  the  home  for  the  little 
child  as  well  as  for  the   parent. 

While,  however,  the  record  of  the  quarter 
century  in  itself,  is  a  record  which  glorifies 
the  grace  of  God  in  its  power  over  human 
hearts,  yet  the  blessings  which  accompany 
that  grace  are  the  more  emphasized  when 
we  compare,  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
the  period  after  1870  with  the  period  prior 
to  that  year,  both  as  to  growth  in  member- 
ship and  in  beneficence.  The  converts  added 
to  the  Church  from  1789,  the  date  of  the 
first  General  Assembly,  until  1869,  a  period 
of  eighty  years,  numbered  about  830,000,  as 
against  1,040,000  persons  added  on  profession 
during  the  past  twenty-five  years ;  and  the 
total  benevolent  gifts  of  the  period  first 
named  were  not  in  excess  of  ^19,000,000,  as 
against  ^71,000,000  for  the  second  period. 

Is    Church   union  a  blessing?     The    record 


A NNI  VERSA R  Y  ADDRE SSE .9.  79 

of  the  prosperity  with  which  God  has  blessed 
this  Church  since  Reunion  answers,  Yes! 
Some  appreciate  the  blessing,  it  may  be, 
more  in  dollars  than  in  aught  else,  but  its 
real  value  can  be  estimated  solely  by  the 
standard  of  Christ,  the  souls  saved  from  sin 
and  death  through  his  people's  prayers  and 
labors.  That  1,000,000  converts  were  gath- 
ered into  the  kingdom  during  the  quarter 
century  is  the  supreme  blessing  of  Reunion, 
and  God  has  emphasized  the  fact  by  adding 
to  the  denomination,  in  the  closing  year  of 
the  period,  75,000  persons,  the  largest  num- 
ber in  any  one  year  in  the  history  of  the 
Church. 

May  the  prayers  of  God's  people  ascend 
earnestly  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  a  new 
baptism  from  on  high,  which  shall  add  daily 
and  yet  more  largely  to  the  Church  through 
the  coming  years,  of  such  as  shall  be  saved. 
"Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my 
Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

Having  thus  considered  the  past,  what  of 
the  future? 

First,  let  me  draw  attention  to  an  obstacle 
— temporary,  it  is  true,  but  still  an  obstacle 
— which  lies  in  the  way  of  the  true  progress 


So  ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES. 

of  the  Church.  This  obstacle  is  the  financial 
indebtedness  of  the  missionary  and  benevo- 
lent Boards  amounting  to  about  $600,000. 
No  better  way  can  be  found  to  dispose  of 
this  liability  than  to  gather  an  Anniversary 
Reunion  Fund  which  shall  bring  at  least 
$1,000,000  into  the  treasuries  of  the  Boards.* 
This  Church  of  ours  is  the  wealthiest  Protes- 
tant Church  in  the  country.  Surely  the 
Church  that  raised  $7,883,000  as  a  Reunion 
Memorial  Offering  from  1870  to  1872,  and 
in  1888  contributed  for  the  strengthening  of 
a  single  Board,  that  of  Ministerial  Relief,  the 
sum  of  $600,000,  can  raise  the  sum  sug- 
gested, as  a  thank  offering  for  God's  blessing 
upon  Reunion.  Sound  forth  the  word  of  the 
Lord  to  his  people,  ''Bring  ye  all  the  tithes 
into  the  storehouse,  that  there  may  be  meat 
in  mine  house,  and  prove  me  now  herewith, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open 
you  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you 
out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room 
enough  to  receive  it." 

As  we  think  further  of  the  future,  it  is 
well  to  remember  that  the  sun  smiles  on  no 
land  so  fair,  so  bounteous  in  all  natural  pro- 

*  See  Resolutions  on  p.  17. 


A  NiVI  VERSA  R  Y  A  DDR  ESSES.  8 1 

ducts,  SO  privileg-ed  of  God,  politically  and 
religiously,  as  these  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica. If  the  past,  In  the  matter  of  population, 
furnishes  any  ground  for  the  future,  there 
will  be  within  our  borders  during  the  closing- 
years  of  the  twentieth  century,  at  least  four 
hundred  millions  of  persons,  for  a  large  part 
of  whom  this  Church  Is  to-day  responsible. 
"  In  the  to-day,  walks  the  to-morrow."  Upon 
the  performance  of  present  duty  by  the  min- 
isters and  members  of  this  Church  depends 
the  welfare  of  coming  generations.  Would 
we  meet  responsibility,  we  must  perform  duty 
resolutely,  courageously,  perslstendy,  along 
several  lines. 

I.  There  must  be,  for  one  thing,  concerted 
effort  for  the  systematic  employment  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Church,  with  a  view  to  the 
welfare  of  vacant  and  enfeebled  congreo-a- 
tlons.  A  chain  is  no  stronger  than  its  weak- 
est link,  and  the  weak  links  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian chain  of  administration  are  two — vacant' 
churches  and  unemployed  ministers.  Our 
missionary  Boards  are  admirably  organized 
and  managed;  but  the  weak,  feeble  and 
vacant  congregations,  of  which  there  are 
over  one  thousand  on  the  roll  of  the  General 


82  ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES. 

Assembly,  are  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
the  itinerant  stranger,  or  to  the  negligence 
which  works  ever  loss.  *' Every  minister 
employed,  and  every  church  with  a  minister," 
should  be  one  of  the  administrative  watch- 
words of  the  Church. 

2.  For  another  thing,  there  must  be  con- 
certed effort  for  the  systematic  use  of  the 
ministry  of  gifts  as  distinct  from  the  ministry 
of  office.  The  New  Testament  clearly  teaches 
that  the  possession  of  talents  by  disciples  of 
Christ  implies  necessarily,  not  official  relation 
to  the  Church,  but  the  use  of  such  talents  in 
the  Lord's  work  according  to  opportunity. 
God  has  blessed  many  ruling  elders  and 
other  members  of  the  laity,  both  men  and 
women,  with  abilities  for  service  in  various 
lines  in  his  kingdom. 

The  amount  of  latent  power  in  the  Church 
is  enormous,  and  the  feeling  of  responsibility 
to  God  for  the  use  of  the  orlfts  he  has  be- 
stowed,  is  made  largely  and  widely  evident 
in  the  church  in  these  days,  by  a  fact  already 
referred  to,  the  formation  of  organizations  of 
young  people,  and  of  men  and  women,  in 
all  portions  of  the  land.  These  movements 
are  not   to    be  patronized    nor  to   be   tempo- 


ANNIVF.RSAR  V  ADDRESSES.  83 

rlzed  with,  but  should  be  recognized  as  the 
hand  of  God,  pointing  his  Church  towards 
the  need  under  which  It  rests  for  a  proper 
control  and  use  of  all  its  officers  and  mem- 
bers in  his  service.  All  opposition  to  these 
movements  should  cease,  and  in  place  of 
debate  concerning  their  value,  the  Church 
should  give  itself  to  regulation  and  adminis- 
tration. Let  the  Church  make  another  of  its 
watchwords  this,  "  Work  for  all,  and  all  at 
work." 

3.  Further,  the  Church  should  stand  reso- 
lutely against  every  attempt  to  create  within 
its  borders  an  independent  authority  of  any 
kind.  All  the  agencies  of  the  Church,  what- 
ever their  character,  should  be  in  some  man- 
ner subject  to  the  control  of  the  Church 
through  one  of  her  judicatories,  either  Pres- 
bytery, Synod  or  General  Assembly.  De- 
tails of  control  are  things  unimportant  ;  the 
great  matter  is  somewhere  to  have  vest- 
ed over  agencies,  that  power  of  review  and 
control,  and  the  additional  power  of  regula- 
ting public  religious  teaching,  which  are  fun- 
damental to  the  Presbyterian  system  wher- 
ever found.  There  cannot  be  a  full  devel- 
opment of  great  resources,  preservation    from 


84  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES. 

undue  friction  and  schismatic  strife,  any- 
thing like  true  unity  and  abiding  prosperity, 
unless  authority  be  vested  in  some  judica- 
tory, over  every  agency  of  the  Church. 
Though  divided  like  the  billows  we  must 
be   one  like  the  sea. 

4.  Emphasis  must  also  be  laid  upon  the 
value  to  the  Church  of  the  missionary  and 
evangelistic  spirit.  As  a  denomination  we 
have  been  in  the  van  in  this  land  in  the 
carrying  forward  of  the  work  both  of  Home 
and  Foreign  Missions.  We  have  increased 
greatly  the  contributions  from  our  churches 
to  these  important  causes.  Would  we  have 
yet  greater  success  as  a  Church,  would  we 
make  the  future  bright  with  the  triumphs  of 
the  Gospel,  there  must  be  yet  more  zealous 
cultivation  of  the  missionary  spirit  both 
among  our  ministers  and  members. 

Especially  must  heed  be  given  to  the 
peculiar  condition  of  affairs  in  this  land,  in 
connection  wath  the  religious  attitude  of  our 
adult  male  population.  There  are  to-day  in 
the  United  States  11,000,000  of  adult  males, 
nearly  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number,  who 
are  not  in  direct  connection  with  any  Church 
bearing    the  name    of   Christian,  either  Prot- 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES.  85 

estant  or  Catholic.  The  masses  of  uncon- 
verted men,  in  our  cities,  in  country  districts, 
at  the  polls,  are  walls  against  which  moral 
reforms  and  religious  forces  beat  often  in 
vain.  By  its  history,  by  its  character,  our 
Church  is  a  Church  for  men  as  well  as  for 
women,  and  must  arouse  to  systematic  effort 
for  the  evangelization  of  men,  would  it  in 
any  degree  meet  responsibility,  and  make 
sure  the  moral  future  of  this   great  nation. 

5.  The  unity  of  the  Church  must  also  be 
conserved,  by  continuous  effort  for  the  union 
with  this  Church  of  other  Churches  holdinof 
to  the  same  doctrinal  standards.  This  is 
the  age,  not  of  division,  but  of  unity,  and 
Presbyterians  no  more  than  others  are  ex- 
empt from  the  attractive  influences  which  are 
abroad,  and  which  tend  to  the  consolidation 
of  like  relieious  interests.  All  but  one  of 
the  Presbyterian  Churches  in  t'lis  land,  hold 
in  common  the  Westminster  Standards, 
altered  in  no  essential  particular.  Patiently, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  should  we 
seek  the  furthering  of  every  influence,  which 
shall  give  promise  of  the  establishment  with- 
in our  common  country  of  a  National  Pres- 
byterian   Church.     This    Church,   through  the 


86  AANIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES. 

venerable  and  distinguished  Dr.  James 
McCosh,  instituted  the  movement  which  re- 
sulted in  the  world  wide  Presbyterian  Alli- 
ance. The  movement  for  Federation  was 
likewise  initiated  by  this  denomination.  Well 
may  we  ask,  Why  should  a  halt  be  called 
now  in  the  work  of  bringing-  closer  together, 
brethren  of  like  faith  ?  There  are  1,800,000 
communicants  in  the  ten  Presbyterian  and 
Reformed  Churches  in  this  country.  These 
Churches  should  unite,  not  for  pride  of  num- 
bers, but  for  the  added  power  which  union 
ever  brings.  God  will  bless  the  National 
Presbyterian  Church  of  the  future  whenever 
it  shall  appear,  even  as  he  has  blessed  the 
Church  which  was  reunited  in  1869.  In 
Union  there  is  not  only  strength,  but  also 
divine  power  and  the  divine   blessing. 

6.  Further,  and  above  all  other  things, 
there  must  be  unceasing  and  undivided  loy- 
alty to  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  being  the 
Word  of  God.  That  Word  has  been  given 
to  mankind  by  inspiration  of  God  as  the 
only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
The  Presbyterian  Churches  have  emphasized 
its  value  both  doctrinally  and  practically,  by 
placing  first  in  their  Confession  of  Faith,  the 


A  Ni\I  VERSA  R  V  A  DDR  ESSES.  8/ 

chapter  entitled,  ''  Of  the  Holy  Scriptures." 
Belief  in  the  plenary  inspiration  of  that 
Word,  and  in  its  supremacy  over  thought 
and  conduct,  was  the  first  and  fundamental 
condition  of  Reunion  in  1869.  The  Basis  of 
Reunion  contains  this  sentence,  "The  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  shall 
be  acknowledged  to  be  the  inspired  Word  of 
God,  and  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice." 

The  Bible,  further,  is  the  basis  of  our  na- 
tional as  well  as  of  our  Christian  hopes  and 
privileges.  This  nation  w^as  founded  upon 
the  Bible,  has  been  developed  upon  Biblical 
principles,  can  be  maintained  in  a  true  pros- 
perity tliroughout  the  future  alone  by  adher- 
ence to  the  same  hiirh  standard.  Church 
and  State  are  independent  each  of  the  other 
in  this  land,  but  both  are  dependent  for  all 
that  they  are  and  have  and  hope  to  be,  upon 
the  Word  of  the  ever-llvinof  God.  Without 
that  Word  there   is    no    sure  basis  for  ria-ht- 

o 

eous  law,  no  open  pathway  for  individual 
advancement,  no  permanent  safeguard  for 
either  civil  or  religious  liberty,  no  abiding 
inspiration  for  the  future,  no  true  salvation 
from    either    temporal    or    eternal     ills.     The 


55  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES. 

Holy  Scriptures,  as  the  Word  of  God  and 
the  infallible  and  undebatable  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  are  fundamental  to  human  wel- 
fare. 

Let  then  no  Influence,  inward  or  outward, 
lead  the  Church  to  forcretfulness  of  its  re- 
sponsibility  in  this  matter  to  the  Lord 
Christ.  Devout  inquiry  as  to  the  nature 
and  contents  of  the  Scriptures  is  always  to 
be  commended.  Men,  further,  are  every- 
where free  to  think  and  say  what  they 
please  concerning  God's  Word.  But  neither 
scholars  as  a  class,  nor  any  other  order 
among  men,  have  received  as  a  specific 
trust  the  Word  of  God,  or  have  been  em- 
powered in  its  light  to  determine  what  is, 
or  is  not  sound  doctrine.  Not  in  the  gath- 
erings of  the  learned,  nor  in  the  conclaves 
of  the  Philistines,  has  Christ  vested  this 
trust,  but  in  his  true  Church.  Fidelity  to 
the  trust  committed  to  the  Church  by  the 
Church's  Head,  resolute  maintenance  of  the 
Infallibility  and  authority  of  the  Word  of 
God,  the  great  source  and  sanction  of  sound 
doctrine  and  of  sound  morals,  of  life  and  of 
salvation,  is  the  duty  of  the  hour,  the  open 
door     to     true    progress,     the    assurance    of 


ANNl  VE  RSA  RY  A  DDR  ESSES.  89 

future  prosperity  both  for  the  nation  and 
the  Church. 

7.  Loyalty  to  the  Word  of  God  involves 
also  loyalty  to  sound  doctrine  as  contained 
in  the  Standards  of  this  Church.  Sound  doc- 
trine is  of  value  in  many  ways,  but  in  none 
more  so  practically,  than  in  its  attractive  and 
cohesive  energy.  There  is  no  unifying  power 
like  that  of  a  distinctive  creed.  The  things 
which  bring  and  bind  men  together  are  not 
formal  agreements,  but  ideas.  The  West- 
minster Standards,  in  their  clear  statement 
of  fundamental  doctrines,  In  their  sharp  defi- 
nition of  ethical  principles.  In  their  Insistence 
upon  the  crown  rights  of  Christ,  in  their 
maintenance  of  popular  government,  in  their 
careful  subordination  to  and  dependence  upon 
the  Word  of  God,  have  been  of  value  to  this 
Church  in  the  past  not  only  as  ''forms  of 
sound  words,"  but  as  a  bond  of  union, 
mightier  than  all  differences,  and  victorious 
time  and  again  over  the  spirit  of  strife,  alien- 
ation and  separation. 

The  adopting  act  by  which  In  1729  the 
Westminster  Standards  became  the  creed  of 
this  Church,  was  but  the  outward  expression 
of  an  inward  and   dominant  life.     It    was    an 


90  ANNIVERSAR  Y  ADDRESSES. 

act  whose  beneficent  influence  has  been 
manifested  on  a  majestic  scale  on  two  mem- 
orable occasions.  Twice  this  Church  of  ours 
was  divided,  and  twice  reunited.  Whatever 
the  causes  of  division,  they  are  not  important 
to  the  matter  in  hand.  The  important  thing 
is  that  the  centrifugal  forces  of  differences  in 
policy  were  less  powerful  than  the  centrip- 
etal forces  of  sound  doctrine.  The  West- 
minster interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture  was 
the  power  above  all  others  which  in  1758 
and  1869  drew  together  the  branches  of  the 
divided  Church,  and  made  of  twain  again  one 
flesh.  There  is  no  unity  so  mighty  as  that 
of  faith.  Jealously  then  let  us  guard,  zeal- 
ously let  us  teach,  resolutely  let  us  maintain, 
those  Standards  which  express  our  denom- 
inational life,  unite  us  in  the  bonds  of  a 
true  fellowship,  and  bind  us  with  indissoluble 
ties  to  the  Word  of  God.  If  ever  in  the 
future  division  should  threaten,  these  ties  will 
hold  us  together  long;  and  if  separation 
should  come  unfortunately  at  any  time,  they 
will  bring  back  our  children  to  the  common 
fold,  even  as  they  brought  back  the  fathers. 
O  !  theology  of  Paul,  of  Augustine  and  of 
Calvin,    well    did    the    men    of    the    Reunion 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESSES.  QI 

magnify  thee ;  may  thy  unifying  power  abide 
ever  with  this  beloved  Church,  at  once  its 
bond,  its  inspiration  and  its  glory. 

8.  Last,  but  not  least,  there  must  be  in- 
creasing loyalty  to  the  Presbyterian  Church 
as  a  Church.  There  is  no  Church  more^ 
catholic  than  the  Presbyterian,  but  catholicity 
does  not  imply,  as  some  imagine,  that  the  in- 
terests of  other  denominations  are  to  be  first 
considered,  and  one's  own  Church  given  a 
secondary  place. 

In  the  order  of  divine  Providence,  denomi- 
nations have  a  lawful  existence  within  the 
Church  universal.  There  is  a  distinction  in 
the  Christian  Church,  not  often  thought  of, 
fundamental  in  Its  nature.  There,  on  the 
one  hand,  are  the  Churches  of  the  prayer 
book,  and  here,  on  the  other,  the  Churches 
of  the  prayer  meeting;  and  v^here  the  prayer 
book  is  in  use,  the  prayer  meedng  does  not 
flourish. 

This  Church  of  ours  believes  in  the  prayer 
meeting,  in  direct  participation  in  worship 
by  the  laity,  in  personal  religion,  in  high 
spirituality,  in  a  Scriptural  and  represen- 
tative government,  in  the  maintenance  of 
sound   doctrine,  and    in    the    sole    supremacy 


92  ANNI VERSAR  V  ADDRESSES. 

over  mind  and  heart  of  the  Divine  Word. 
Let  us  emphasize  our  denominational  char- 
acter and  mission.  Let  it  not  be  said  of  our 
Church  that  it  is,  in  any  sense,  even  in 
Its  benevolence,  an  ''atomic  Presbyterian 
Church."  During  the  next  twenty-five  years 
that  should  not  be  true,  which  has  been  true 
during  the  past  twenty-five  years,  that  for 
every  two  dollars  given  to  our  own  Boards, 
one  dollar  has  been  given  to  outside  socie- 
ties. 

Loyalty  must  approve  itself  by  deeds,  must 
concern    itself    not    only    with    doctrine    but 
likewise  with    practice,  must   realize  responsi- 
bility for  works    as  well    as    for   faith.     As    a 
denomination    we    are    greatly    privileged     of 
God    in    many    ways.     We    have    established 
numerous  agencies    for   the  maintenance    and 
extension  of  our  branch  of  Christ's  kinedom. 
We  are  strong    in    our    Scriptural    creed  and 
our  popular  sympathies;    strong   also    in    our 
relation    to    the    history   and   development   of 
the  land  in  which  God  has  placed  us;  strong, 
in  addition,  in    our  hold    upon  the    influential 
elements    in    the    diverse    population    of    this 
Republic;  strong,   further,  in  the  material,  in- 
tellectual   and    moral    resources     under    our 


ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES.  93 

control.  Ours  are  kingly  principles,  historic 
prestige,  far-reaching  influence,  multiplied  re- 
sources. Thus  equipped  of  God,  we  find 
before  us,  as  a  Church,  work  of  imperial 
proportions ;  work  not  only  in  foreign  lands, 
but  more  especially  in  this  land.  America, 
for  this  Church,  is  but  another  name  for 
opportunity;  and  if  we  would  rise  to  the 
level  of  our  providential  privileges  and  ad- 
vantages, then  with  all  charity  towards  other 
denominations  of  Christians,  we  should  devote 
our  resources,  both  of  men  and  means,  in 
the  wide  disseminadon  of  the  truths  in  which 
we  believe,  for  the  largest  possible  develop- 
ment of  our  own  institutions. 

As  a  rule,  it  is  true  that  he  is  the  best 
Christian,  the  truest  to  Christ,  who  is  most 
loyal  to  the  Church  in  which  he  finds  him- 
self, by  choice  and  by  the  operation  of  divine 
Providence.  What  is  true  of  the  individual 
Is  peculiarly  true  of  the  Christian  Churches. 
That  denomination  is  truest  to  its  God-given 
mission,  to  the  great  Christian  brotherhood, 
to  the  supreme  Head  of  the  Church,  which 
is  true  to  its  own  nature,  true  to  its  peculiar 
principles,  and  which  refuses,  with  David,  to 
do    God's   work    clad    in  Saul's   armor.     The 


94  ANNIVERSAR  V  ADDRESSES. 

Presbyterian  Church,  by  being  true  to  itself, 
will  be  true  to  Christ,  will  thus  make  sur^  a 
future,  which  will  as  far  exceed  in  results  the 
immediate  past,  as  that  past  in  its  achieve- 
ments exceeded  under  God's  blessing  the 
conditions  of  the  early  period  of  the  Church's 
history. 

Let  the  Church  move  forward  then,  faithful 
to  every  responsibility,  looking  unto  him  for 
strength  and  guidance  who  has  promised, 
saying,  "For  as  the  rain  cometh  down,  and 
the  snow  from  heaven,  and  returneth  not 
thither,  but  watereth  the  earth,  and  maketh 
it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed 
to  the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater:  So 
shall  my  word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my 
mouth ;  it  shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but 
it  shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and 
it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent 
it." 


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